


Light of Day

by TheOriginalHorcrux



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Female Homosexuality, Harry Potter - Freeform, Harry Potter Next Generation, Heterosexuality, M/M, Male Homosexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-10
Updated: 2013-04-03
Packaged: 2017-11-16 00:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 96,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/533646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOriginalHorcrux/pseuds/TheOriginalHorcrux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy are in a hate/hate relationship, but when the muggle studies assignment requires them to work together, Rose thinks her year has been ruined. And it has, until she realises that she feels something other than hate for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Take A Walk on the Muggle Side

Chapter 1  
Take A Walk on the Muggle Side

"Did you airbrush out your Jowls?" Scorpius Malfoy shot snidely at me across the classroom.

"No" I snapped back and sat down with a huff next to my best friend, Ella Longbottom. Malfoy was referring, of course to the Head Girl picture that I had just submitted to add to the gallery on the fifth floor. Malfoy was just jealous that Albus' photo was going up in the 2024 head boy spot instead of his. My mother and Malfoys father had been head boy and girl in 1999, so everyone thought that Scorpius and I were both destined to be the heads of the school. Obviously he wasn't.

It seemed like Albus had taken after his paternal grandparents, who's pictures still resided in the gallery under the year 1977.

"What's airbrush?" Ella asked, confused. Of course, Malfoy and I were the only ones who knew enough about muggle technology to use these kinds of terms, being the smarter students in the 7th year muggle studies class.

"Edit" I replied quickly to Ella, as our teacher, Professor Simona walked into the room and began to write on the board. I whipped out my quill and copied down the notes at lightning speed into my exercise book.

"Take a Walk on the Muggle Side?" one of Albus's best friends, Daniel Thomas said from his position at the back of the room.

"Glad you can read Mr. Thomas, now would you like to impress me more and show me how well you can write?" Professor Simona said, not turning around from the board.

Daniel flushed furiously as the class laughed at her comment.

"Now" said Professor Simona, clapping her hands together. Everyone's eyes flew to the front as she began to speak. Well, almost everyone's. No surprises that the only two people not listening were Scorpius Malfoy, and his two best friends Malcom Underwart and Peter Veruca. I turned my head away from them so as to properly listen to Professor Simona's lesson and not be distracted by Underwart's horrible acne.

"This year, at the request of a muggle studies teacher from Beauxbatons, the curriculum has been changed."

My mouth dropped open. I had been really looking forward to learning about the muggle playwright, Shakespeare.

"Don't look so shocked Miss Weasley, we'll still be incorporating Shakespeare into it" Professor Simona said, chuckling at my shocked expression. I relaxed slightly as she went on.

"This year, the curriculum has been tweaked to include taking you outside of your comfort zone." she paused for dramatic effect. "Some activities that you will do this year Include; Visiting a real Muggle school as students from the country, studying muggle literature and music, Muggle pastimes and most importantly, we will be studying muggle school subjects. Yes Mr. Underwart, it is compulsory"

I looked around at Ella and saw that her smile was as big if not bigger than mine. This was going to be so fun. Professor Simona picked up the register and began to speak again, silence falling over the class as she did so.

"You will be in pairs for the whole year to experience this. I'm pairing you boy/girl so that the boys don't slack off and the girls don't get too over excited. This way the boys can keep the girls calm and the girls can keep the boys from slacking off - Really Mr. Potter?" she broke off as Albus let out a loud

"Ha!" at the last statement. Laughter began to break out as the rest of the class caught on to what Albus was implying.

"Sorry Professor" He said, still stifling giggles.

"Seeing as Mr. Potter was kind enough to act his age, I will read out the list of pairs." Professor Simona said, in a poor attempt to sound disapproving.

I turned to Ella to see her giggling behind her hand. It wasn't even that funny, Just Albus's sick mind getting himself into trouble.

"Sounds fun doesn't it?" I said to Ella as she calmed herself down. "Though now I have a feeling that I learned Othello off by heart for nothing"

"What's that, an illness?" Ella asked, rummaging through her bag for a spare quill, having just snapped hers.

"It's a play by Shakespeare!" I said indignantly.

"Wait, you spent the summer learning a Play off by heart?" Ella asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wow, Rosie, you need to lighten up, have some fun, get a boyfriend, go to a party, something to keep you from reciting Shakerspears."

"Shakespeare" I corrected.

"Whatever" Ella replied, as Jade Marks, our best friend since first year sidled over and sat on the desk as Professor Simona read out pairs

"What are you two gossiping about?" Jade asked with a small smile, taking the apple that Ella had just pulled out of her bag and taking a large bite. Ella just rolled her eyes and slumped back in her chair, Jade was forever taking food when you showed interest in it.

"Rosie spent the whole summer learning a play called Othelolo, because she thought we were studying this guy called Spearshaker" Ella piped up as Jade's eyebrow rose higher.

"It's Othello and Shakespeare!" I said, though I had the feeling she was just doing it to annoy me now.

"What a waste of time!" Jade exclaimed "Have some fun, be spontaneous. Please don't become that boring girl that recites poetry."

"Jade Marks and Peter Veruca" Professor Simona called out and Jade groaned loudly as she moved across the room and dumped her stuff next to him, avoiding his hands as they tried to grab her arse.

"Ella Longbottom and Albus Potter" I could practically feel the smile come across Ella's face. She'd had a huge crush on Albus since third year when he saved her from drowning in the lake. I'd been trying to convince her for ages to just tell him how she felt, but she said If she flirted enough he'd get the message, yet Albus still remained oblivious to the fact that my best friend would love to get it on with him.

"Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy"

I froze as my eyes met Malfoy's. No Way, this is not happening! I can't work with Malfoy! He's the most stuck up person that I know. We're in a freaking hate/hate relationship at the moment, what is wrong with the world?

"Miss Weasley, please move beside Mr Malfoy now." Professor Simona insisted, pointing at the spare spot beside Malfoy. I grimaced and Malfoy smirked as I sat down next to him.

"Right" said Professor Simona happily, turning towards the board again. "We will have to start learning muggle school subjects, such as Mathematics, English and Science. Our visit to Ffynone House School in Wales is in two weeks."

She flicked her wand and a passage appeared for us to copy down.

We worked like that for about half the lesson. Professor Simona would put a passage up on the board, and we would copy it out. I learned all sorts of things about Maths, English, Science, History and a little bit of French, all in half a double period. It was then that Professor Simona decided that to help us "Concentrate" better she would put on some muggle music. It was honestly the most horrible music I've ever heard, they didn't even have decent lyrics and it most definitely did NOT help our concentration. Honestly, what muggle can concentrate with Lady GoGo playing in the background? What muggle can concentrate with any noise at all?

Malfoy wasn't helping. He was rocking backwards on his chair being the idiot that he is. He wasn't writing anything down, which probably meant that he would have to copy it out of my book later. Hell to the nizzy-no is that happening, that lazy ass can get it off one of his slimy friends.

"Professor, can we please turn it off?" I said, finally snapping. "It is impossible to concentrate"

"But, muggle teenagers do this all the ti-"She started but I cut her off

"We're not muggle teenagers Professor, and this music is terrible!" Jade interjected, shifting her chair further away from Peter Veruca as he tried to plant a kiss on her cheek.

"Touché" Professor Simona said, flicking her wand at the wizarding wireless which turned itself off instantly. I turned back to my work and began to scribble the notes that were writing themselves across the board about mathematics. I could hear Ella and Albus talking quietly at the back of the room and a soft giggle from Ella. I could feel the flirting waves from where I was sitting at the front of the room; If Albus is actually that oblivious I'm going to smack him over the head with my Potions textbook.

A breeze blew through the classroom lifting my hair of my sweaty neck.

"God Weasley, keep that bush fire mane of yours tied back. I don't appreciate it blowing in my face" Malfoy snapped as I pulled my hair over the opposite shoulder.

"Why don't you bleach your hair, Malfoy, so you don't look like you're adopted" I shot back, pleased to see that it had struck a nerve.

"Sorry, I didn't hear a word of that, I was distracted by your massive horse teeth" Malfoy retorted. Oh so you want to play insults? Well Scorpius Malfoy, two can play that game.

"You could be a skunk, the way that you smell. Why don't you ask daddy for some new soap. Tomato juice scented might work for you."

"You're so dead Weasley" Malfoy yelled, launching himself at me. I pushed my chair backwards so quickly that I knocked into the desk behind me, sending Jade's papers flying everywhere. Malfoy went sprawling on the ground, his brown hair that was normally slicked back, was flying lose, making him look like he'd just got out of bed.

He picked himself up off the ground and tried to dive at me again, but with a cry of impedimenta from Professor Simona, he fell to the ground.

Professor Simona looked livid. "Never" she shrieked "In all my years of teaching, have I been more disgusted at a student's behaviour!" I looked at the ground, determined not to meet her eyes, which were blazing. Her normally nice disposition had been blown away with the gust of wind that started all of this. "You will both go to Professor McGonagall's office immediately!"

I turned around and walked towards the door at the back of the room, still looking at the floor, I could feel a red flush creeping up my neck and onto my cheeks. I could hear Malfoy's footsteps behind me and hoped that as soon as we were out of sight of the room he wouldn't attack me again.

We walked up the corridor in dead silence. I stole a glance at Malfoy and saw that he was glaring at me.

"I don't like you Malfoy" I snarled, my glare boring into his as If we were locked in a staring contest.

"Funny that, I don't like you either" Malfoy said, a sickly sweet fake smile plastered onto his pale face.

"I don't like the way you treat me or talk to me, I don't like your smirky little meerkat face, I'm onto you"

"Onto me about what?" Malfoy asked innocently, that horrible fake smile still sitting on his face, mocking me.

"Oh please, I know all about your plans to 'incapacitate' Albus so you can get head boy. I heard Veruca and Underwart talking about it this morning." I said

"In that case, odds are, by the end of the year, I'll have my worst enemy dead and a head boy position and you'll have a three broomsticks apron and that bush fire hair."

"You smell like skunk shit" I said, doing my best to imitate his sickly sweet smile as we reached the gargoyle, which guarded the head's office.

"I'm warning you Weasley, one more joke about how I smell and I swear" Malfoy growled, clenching his fist. I rolled my eyes and gave the password. The gargoyle sprung to life and leapt aside revealing the door to Professor McGonagall's office.

Great, first week back and I'm already in trouble with the headmistress. Absolutely wonderful.


	2. Tutoring

Chapter 2 Tutoring

"I can't believe you landed me in detention on the first day back!" I yelled as soon as we had exited McGonagall's office and rounded the corner. "I'm head girl!"

Malfoy just smirked at me. "See you later Weasley."

"This isn't over! Get back here Malfoy you slimy git" I yelled after him as he walked off down the corridor. He ignored me, giving me the one finger salute as he rounded the corner.

Fuming, I stormed off in the opposite direction, back to Muggle studies, where I knew that Jade and Ella would be waiting with my bag. First day back and I already had detention. _Damn you Malfoy._ I pulled my bushy red hair back in a ponytail, making a mental note to keep it tied back if I wanted to keep myself out of detention in the future.

"How'd it go?" Ella asked, handing me my stuff as we walked towards the great hall.

"Just detention" I mumbled, accepting it. Both of them burst out laughing.

"Detention? Really?" Jade laughed "I thought head girls had immunity. They dish out the detentions not get them."

"Oh, shut up" I said, hitting Ella on the arm with my Muggle studies book.

"Lighten up Rosie" Jade said, grinning at me for a few seconds before realising that I wasn't amused. She rolled her eyes "c'mon let's go to lunch"

* * *

"God, Ancient Runes is a bloody nightmare." My friend, Rio Blanche moaned, slipping into a seat beside me and helping herself to a sandwich.

"Serves you right for taking it to NEWT level" Jade said, reaching over and plucking the sandwich straight out of Rio's hand. Rio reached for another and mumbled something about her Mum wanting her to take it.

"Ella, look, it's your owl" I said, looking up and seeing Ella's tawny owl, Freya, flying towards us.

"I wonder what Mum's sent me now" Ella said "She sent my toothbrush and pencil case yesterday. I'm pretty sure I didn't forget anything else."

Freya landed with a soft thud next to Ella's plate and stuck out her leg. Ella undid the letter, gave Freya some cheese out of her sandwich and tore it open. She quickly skimmed through it.

"It's from Abi" she said, passing the letter across the table to me. "It's revolting."

I raised one eyebrow at Ella and began to read.

_Dear Ella and Rose (I know Ella will let you read this so I may as well address it to you too)_

_I moved in with James yesterday! He asked me if I wanted to when we went out for dinner, and of course I said yes. Mum understood and told me to be careful but Dad wasn't that happy. He wants me to keep living at home with him and Mum. But he came round in the end when I played the I'm-not-having-kids-till-I'm-twenty-five card. He sort of relaxed after that. My job at St. Mungo's is going great and I'm almost finished my Healer training! Hope Hogwarts is good and you're staying out of trouble._

_Love Abi_

"Her and James still going strong then?" I asked, tossing the letter back to her.

"Going strong?" Ella said "I reckon they'll be announcing their engagement any day soon. It's sickening." I nodded my agreement.

"Any word from Alice?" I asked and Ella shook her head, her lips pursed. "Still hasn't contacted us. But we know she got to Scotland because we keep seeing her picture in the Daily Prophet."

"Why wouldn't she contact you?" Rio asked, stuffing a sandwich in her mouth before Jade could take it.

"She and Abi had a huge argument over whether Abi was old enough to have a boyfriend and Frank and I sided with Abi so Alice is mad at all of us."

"Wha' 'bout your mum 'nd dad?" Rio said her mouth full of sandwich.

"Mum didn't see any problem with it and dad told her he'd get used to it eventually. Alice stormed out after that. But do you know what I think?" Ella said, buttering some bread.

"What?" All of us said in unison

"I think she's jealous that Abi can talk to boys so easily when it takes her twenty damn minutes to even say get her words straight enough to say hi."

"Could be a contending factor" I said, nodding as Albus and Lily appeared at my side, holding a letter from James.

"James moved in with Abi" Albus said, handing me the letter.

"I know" I said, handing it back. "Hello, sisters best friend." I gestured to Ella. Al rolled his eyes as Ella giggled a little more shrilly than was necessary. Lily and I exchanged an exasperated look as Ella started talking to Albus about Muggle studies and how great it was that they were paired together.

"It's going to be a great year" she said happily.

"Yeah" said Albus with a smile. "We'll make a good team"

I felt like banging my head on the table and yelling at top volume "SHE LIKES YOU" into Al's ear. Lily rolled her eyes at me and pulled Albus away.

"Remember that Quidditch trials are tomorrow" he called back at us and Jade and Ella slapped each other high fives. They had been chasers on the team last year and hoped to reprise their role, immediately the conversation was all about Quidditch. I had no interest in Quidditch, which was quite insane, me coming from a Weasley-Potter family that pretty much lived and breathed Quidditch. I preferred to watch my cousins fly around on thin sticks of wood rather than do it myself.

Rio looked at me sympathetically; she too had little interest in quidditch, though she preferred designing brooms, rather than watching people fly around on them.

The bell rang. Putting a stop to the endless quidditch discussion that Jade and Ella were surely about to engage in.

"C'mon" Rio said, "We've got potions."

"Why're you in such a hurry?" Jade scoffed "It's not like potions matter or anything"

"It does when you want to be a healer" Ella pointed out, gathering her stuff. Despite her love of quidditch, she was quite tolerant of her and Jade's discussions always being broken up.

"You want to be a healer?" Jade asked

"No, idiot. Rio does" Ella said, dragging Jade up. Jade grumbled but obliged as we began the walk down to the dungeons.

* * *

"Don't die" I said, hugging Hugo and attempting to straighten his quidditch robes.

"I've only fallen off once" He whined, pulling away from me.

"Which resulted in you being off for the rest of the season" I counteracted as Albus blew his whistle to signal the start of tryouts.

"Good luck" I called after him as he ran onto the pitch. He waved back at me and I walked up the stairs to take my place in the stands with Rio, who was obsessively designing a new quidditch broom to outfly the Firebolt 2000.

If you looked at the Gryffindor quidditch team last year you'd wonder why it wasn't called the Potter-Weasley quidditch team. I was hoping that Albus wasn't going to be as biased as James was last year and look at actual quidditch skill, and not favour members of the family.

"If you were on the team last year, could you stand over here?" I heard Albus call and Ella, Jade, Lily and Hugo moved to his left. "Now, just because these ones were on the team last year, doesn't guarantee them a spot this year. Is that clear?"

There was a resounding yes.

"Good" said Albus "Now, if you could divide into groups according to what position you play"

There was a small scuffle as everyone divided into groups. Al started with the chasers. A few second years were first up and did abysmally, then some fourth years who did reasonably well then some fifth years, which included Ella's little brother Frank, who absolutely blitzed it. Then just as Ella and Jade's group was called, my attention was turned away from the pitch.

"Weasley" a voice I knew only too well called from behind me.

"What do you want Malfoy?" I asked without turning around.

"I need to apologise for my behaviour yesterday" he said and I was rendered speechless. Malfoy, apologising to me, something was not right.

"Who's paying you?" I asked "Not that you need it"

Malfoy laughed "No one's paying me. I've realised that what I did was wrong and I'm sorry."

"I- Thanks?" I said, unsure of what to say. Well what was I supposed to say to that? It wasn't like Malfoy was my best friend that I'd just had a little bust up with.

"You're welcome" Malfoy said, sitting down beside me and immediately shifted closer to Rio. Whoa, Malfoy comes with manners? Something is quite wrong.

"Alright Malfoy, what do you want?"

"Well, you know that Muggle subject, maths?" he asked.

"Yeah"

"Well I don't entirely get it, so I was wondering if you could tutor me in it, seeing as you're my partner and all."

"No" I said flatly

"What? Why?" Malfoy said, taken aback.

"Well you'd get it if you weren't rocking back on your chair, planning the best insults to throw at me all lesson!" I said.

"Please Weasley? I'll pay you" Malfoy begged, If anything this riled me up even more.

"I don't want your filthy money!" I yelled at him. Malfoy seemed lost for words, now _that_ was a first. "Malfoy, can you just leave me alone, I'm trying to watch Quidditch tryouts."

But Malfoy didn't leave me alone. He sat next to me, reeking of cheese, the whole time until it got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Malfoy will you leave me alone if I agree to tutor you" I said angrily and Malfoy nodded. "Fine then, I'll tutor you." I said.

"Thanks Weasley" he said, getting up "I'll meet you in the library tomorrow after dinner?"

"Sure" I said as he walked away "Oh and Malfoy, reckon you could have a shower beforehand?"

I could see Malfoy roll his eyes and disappear back up to the castle. What had I just agreed to?

* * *

"Let me get this straight" Ella asked after she had cleaned up after tryouts "You agreed to tutor _Malfoy_ in maths."

"I didn't really have a choice" I muttered as Jade towelled her hair dry.

"This is the same Malfoy that has given you hell for six years, not some other Malfoy." Jade asked.

"Nope, same Malfoy" I said "He practically begged me on his knees. New low I think"

"He even offered to pay her" giggled Rio.

"Wow, he must be desperate" Ella said.

"I can't believe I agreed to this" I moaned, putting my head in my hands. "he just sat there, smelling of cheese which my nose cannot stand the smell of until I agreed to make him go away."

"Hard luck" said Jade with a small smile "Have fun with the adopted Malfoy."

"I don't tutor him till tomorrow. I don't even know how to tutor." I said

"Just ask him what he doesn't get and then explain it to him." Rio said, looking up from her sketch.

"Well, moving on from Rosie's problems, Ella and I have quidditch training every second day leading up to our first match in October. Wish us luck with all the work we're getting"

"Oh yeah, who managed to get all the other positions? I wasn't listening when Al announced them. Malfoy being there and all" I asked

"Well, Ella, Frank and I are the chasers. Al is the seeker of course, Lily and Hugo are the beaters again, and Al's friend Oliver is the keeper. Bit biased if you ask me" Jade said.

"I wish he wouldn't put Hugo in beater" I said "He's not even a beater build, neither is Lily."

"Yeah, well they're strong and have good aim, that's all you need to be a beater" Ella said. Again, pointing out how little I knew about quidditch.

I tuned out as Jade and Ella engaged in one of their discussions on how likely the Gryffindor team was to win this year.

So I'm now tutoring Scorpius Malfoy, the same person who got me a detention on the first day back. Could my week get any worse?


	3. Why Me?

Chapter 3 Why Me?

"So what do you know about this trip to the muggle school?" I asked Ella and Jade as we walked to Muggle studies the next week.

"Nothing much," Ella replied "Just that it's in two weeks."

"And that we're not allowed to use magic." Jade grumbled. "I mean, why can't we show the muggles what they're missing out on?"

I snorted with laughter, shaking my head as we arrived at the classroom. But the sight of a certain brown haired Slytherin made the smile jump off my face as if it was running away from a dragon. Malfoy.

Of course, how could I have forgotten, I was going to be tutoring him in maths later on. In less than three hours. I averted my gaze and sat down in the opposite corner of the room with Jade and Ella, the latter of which was staring at Albus, again. I bumped her arm.

"Are you sure you don't want me to give him a prod in the right direction?" I said

"What do you mean?" Ella asked, a little too quickly. I rolled my eyes.

"Al" I said.

"What about him?"

"Don't play stupid, the whole year knows that you like him." Jade said. "Well... everyone apart from him." Ella moaned and put her face in her hands.

"Am I really that obvious?"

"Yes." Jade said before I could try and make Ella feel any better.

"Then how come Al hasn't noticed?" she complained, looking at him standing at the front of the room laughing with his mates.

"Because Al is a blundering idiot who needs to have someone yell what they're trying to say in his ear before he understands." I replied.

"Alright everyone, take a seat next to your partners." Professor Simona said, walking into the room with a stack of papers. Jade and I groaned collectively as Ella jumped up excitedly.

"Great, another lesson avoiding being molested," Jade mumbled grumpily, getting up and plonking herself down next to Veruca with a huff. I walked stiffly across the room towards Malfoy, who, thankfully was sitting properly with a book and quill out. _Thank Merlin_ I thought _He'll take his own notes this lesson._

"Now, I have some bad news." Professor Simona said and everyone's attention turned towards her. "The trip to the Muggle School has been cancelled."

There was a shout of protest from the back of the room.

"Because of a breach in wizarding security," She finished, raising her voice over the babble of chatter that had broken out.

"What breach in wizarding security?" yelled Daniel Thomas.

"Beauxbatons visited yesterday and one of their students performed magic in front of the muggles, they were expelled, but the students of the Muggle School are severely shaken up. As a result of this, we are not allowed to attend."

"That's garbage! Only Beauxbatons have no sense, we wouldn't do that." Oliver Wood said.

"I know you wouldn't, but the ministry has deemed it a no-go." Professor Simona said and when there was no response but grumbling, she flicked her wand at the board and words began to write themselves across it.

"Now, today's focus will be English. In muggle schools, English is a mandatory subject which is required for muggles to gradu- yes Mr Finnigan?" she said as Corey Finnigan's hand flew into the air.

"We're still studying muggle school subjects even though the excursion has been cancelled?" he asked.

"Of course, Mr Finnigan. It is the excursion that has been cancelled, not the curriculum." Professor Simona said.

"But there's no point" Corey protested.

"There is every point, Mr Finnigan, this is _Muggle Studies_ , where we study _Muggles_ and the way that they live." Professor Simona replied. Corey opened his mouth to protest, but his partner, Bradley Mace from Ravenclaw, elbowed her in the side and she closed it again.

I glanced across the room at Jade who was looking bored as Professor Simona explained the complexity of poetry techniques. Ella wasn't paying attention at all, but shooting sideways glances at Albus, who was doodling absentmindedly on his exercise book.

Malfoy was copying down the notes on the board for once in his life. Something was seriously wrong. Malfoy never does any work.

"Malfoy are you feeling alright?" I asked curiously, the git ignored me. _Fine then_ I thought indignantly, the _one_ time I try and show some compassion, the adopted Malfoy ignores me, wonderful. I pulled the sleeve of my jumper over my hand and kept it over my nose and mouth as Malfoy's scent wafted towards me. Does he even know what a shower is? I flipped through my exercise book to a blank page and began to scribble the notes on poetry that Professor Simona was writing on the board when a scrunched up ball of paper hit me in the back. I whipped around to see Albus with his hands over his face.

 _Sorry!_ He mouthed _I was meant to hit your desk_. I unfolded the piece of paper and read Albus' message.

_Rosie! HELP!_

Well that's great, what do you need help with? I turned around and made a " _what"_ gesture at him and he immediately started scribbling away again. I rolled my eyes and returned to my work, my quill scratching across the paper.

Albus' message hit its target the second time, though my quill just happened to be where the paper landed, sending a line across the page. I glared at Albus as he mouthed apologies at me.

_I don't know what the hell she's talking about!_

I turned the paper over and wrote a response.

_Listening might help._

I turned around and threw the paper back at him, completely missing and hitting Ella in the head, jerking out of her little fantasy world. I pointed at Albus and she passed it to him without even looking confused. I saw Albus read the note and glower at me. I knew he wanted me to offer to give him my notes. Not this year Albus Potter. You need to learn to fend for yourself.

The bell rang signalling the end of the day's lessons and the start of dinner. The sound of chairs scraping back filled the room, including mine. But as Jade, Ella and I walked out the door, Scorpius Malfoy was still sitting at his desk finishing the notes that Professor Simona had left.

* * *

"Good luck Rose" Rio said, patting me on the back as the plates from dinner disappeared and people began to file out of the hall. I grimaced.

"Thanks, I'm gonna need it." I replied through gritted teeth, slinging my bag over my shoulder and walking with Rio to the doors.

"If he's a jerk then you get up and leave okay?" Rio reminded me as we walked up the marble staircase.

"You sound like my mum" I grumbled. Rio laughed.

"See you Rosie." She said, hitting my shoulder and running off in the opposite direction to catch up with our roommate Mae Jackson. Mae was a quiet girl, she never drew any attention to herself and never had any friends, apart from us, but we didn't really count as her friends because we never really hung out with her.

Ella and Jade had quidditch practise, much to their dismay as the load of homework that the teachers had piled onto us was growing ever bigger, and it was only the second week!

 _I'd rather be playing quidditch than tutoring the adopted Malfoy_ I thought grumpily as I reached the library. The library was silent apart from the turning of pages and the scratching of a quill here and there.

I saw Malfoy sitting behind a stack of books and staring out of the window. His hair was gelled back, like normal and there was no book or quill out in front of him. Great, he'd changed back to his normal self before coming to tutoring, I hoped he'd had a shower.

"Hi Malfoy" I said, trying to put a bit of cheeriness into my dull voice.

"Weasley" he drawled, rocking his chair back on two legs, god I hate it when he does that. I sat down, pleased to see that there wasn't any aroma of rotten cheese wafting towards me. I pulled out my muggle studies book and the new textbook that had come from flourish and blotts the day that we had been informed of the curriculum change.

"So" I said, clearing my throat "D'you want to get out your textbook?"

"Didn't bring it" he said, looking out the window.

"What?" I asked angrily "You ask me to tutor you and you don't bring your textbook?"

"You have yours." He smirked "what's the point in me bringing mine?"

"You really are a handful, aren't you Malfoy?" I asked "I'd hate to be your parents."

"I'd hate to be yours, although warming their hands around your head might be a bonus." Malfoy sniggered. In a second I had him in a headlock.

"One more crack about my hair cheese reeker." I growled, only to be thrown back into a stack of books.

"One more crack about how I smell bush fire." He warned, his wand at my throat and hate dancing in his eyes and for the first time ever, I was actually afraid of him. Normally the both of us would joke around, hexing and insulting each other purely because the other was there. But this was different, Malfoy looked as though he truly would kill me if I made another crack about how he smelt.

"Okay" I said, putting my hands up and getting up off the floor. "I'm sorry" I said and slowly, ever so slowly, Malfoy's wand dropped back to his side. I rubbed the back of my head where I had hit the books and sat back down, opening my text book at the page on mathematics. "Here, I'll teach you algebra."

Malfoy sat down, not taking his eyes off me as I began to explain what the letters were there for and how to add and subtract like terms. I honestly didn't think Malfoy was interested. He just stared out of the window, not listening to a word I said.

"God damn it Malfoy!" I exclaimed, slamming the textbook shut, "What is so bloody interesting about the forbidden forest?"

"I was just wondering what would happen if your hair touched one of the trees." He said mildly. "Catching fire would probably be the most likely scenario."

I slammed my fist down on the table and shoved my textbook back into my bag.

"That is it Malfoy!" I yelled "I agree to tutor you, you don't listen to me and now you insult me?" I stalked out, leaving an angry Madame Filch screeching at me about how Libraries were quiet places and to save our fights for the grounds. I honestly couldn't care less about what rules I'd broken, all I wanted to do was hex Malfoy's arse to Jupiter and for it to stay there.

I stormed back to Gryffindor tower, earning some reproachful looks in the Gryffindor common room when I snapped at a first year who accused her friend of stealing her potions essay and came crying to me. I apologised to the girl and kindly told her to take it to one of the prefects, as I was busy. The girl glared after me but when I was gone I heard her run up to Albus and recite her problem.

If I thought that getting into my dorm would give me some peace and quiet, I was wildly wrong.

It was like I'd just walked into a Quidditch stadium with the match in full swing. Jade and Ella stood at opposite ends of the room screaming bloody murder at each other, I was surprised that they could hear what the other was saying.

"Rose!" Ella yelled, walking over to me and grabbing my hand. "Please tell Jade that what she did was _very_ inappropriate!"

"I didn't do anything Ella!" Jade yelled back "you're making things up!"

 _Fuck_ I thought First Malfoy gets me in a shit mood and next Ella and Jade are looking daggers at each other. Why do I always have to be the one to sort out people's problems? I'm no good at it either, because my best intentions _always_ make a mess of things.


	4. What Kind of Game is this Anyway

The situation with Jade and Ella was more complicated than I'd realised. I thought that they'd had a little bust up and it'd all blow over once I told them both that they were being unreasonable, but oh no, it had to be something more.

"Alright, Ella, you tell me." I said "And then Jade can tell me" I added hastily as Jade opened her mouth angrily to protest.

"Jade was _looking_ at me." Ella spat nastily.

"Oh so you're getting worked up over Jade looking at you now?" I asked, starting to get incredibly pissed.

"No, she was _looking_ at me." Ella said, with a particular emphasis on the word looking.

"I'm looking at you right now, are you gonna start yelling at me?" I asked, pulling off my cloak and dumping my bag on the floor beside my bed.

"Rose!" Ella whined angrily "You're almost as bad as Al!"

"So tell me what the problem is and I might be a little less clueless." I all but yelled back at her.

"Jade was looking at my boobs while I was changing after Quidditch practise!" Ella yelled.

"I was not! I already told you I was looking at Al!" Jade yelled back.

"What, so you were looking at Al's boobs? Because the last time I looked, he didn't have any!" Ella replied. I sighed and let them vent their anger at each other. I had no idea who to believe. Ella might have been blowing things out of proportion, like normal, but then again, Jade might be lying about it. I was leaning towards the latter. Both Rio and I had suspected that Jade was lesbian since fourth year, when she couldn't stop staring at women in bikinis in the muggle magazines at Rio's house one summer, she's just so far in the closet that she doesn't know it yet. Not that there's anything wrong with that though, it doesn't change a fucking thing.

There was always the slightest chance that I was thinking the wrong thing, and Ella really _was_ blowing this out of proportion, but that is a _very_ small chance. The next thing that Ella said brought me back to earth with a very unpleasant bump.

"Stop denying it! You're just a dirty little fag and everyone knows it!" she screamed. As soon as she'd said it, I could see that she wished she hadn't. Jade's furious expression fell off her face immediately to be replaced by a wounded, hurt one. Tears welled in Jade's eyes as she turned away, running out of the dorm.

"I'm not g-gay" Jade sobbed as she ran down the stairs. I stood up furiously.

"What the hell Ella? You just crossed the line. No, you ran back and forth across the line, jumped on it _then_ crossed it. If I wasn't your best friend I'd hit you right now, but I'm not going to because my fist would hurt later." I said angrily, running out of the room after Jade, ignoring Ella as she called after me.

"Rose, wait! I didn't mean it."

"I know that" I muttered under my breath, "It's just the fact that you actually said it." I couldn't believe that Ella was capable of saying such awful things. She was always so nice and sweet. I even remembered when she was afraid to speak to Jade back in first year.

"Jade" I called as I saw her open the portrait hole. She saw me coming after her and sprinted away. "Jade wait! Ella didn't mean it." I ran after her as she ran down the seventh floor corridor. "Jade stop!"

And she did stop, leaning against a wall and sliding down it, sobbing. I ran over to her.

"Hey, It's alright." I said, wrapping my arms around her. "Ella's just a little homophobic that's all."

"I-I'm not g-gay Rose." She sobbed "I really was looking at Albus. E-Ella just thought that I was looking at her."

I pursed my lips. Of course I knew she was lying, but I wasn't about to force her out of the closet if she wasn't ready to admit it to herself.

"I believe you." I said, in my most convincing voice, even though I did not believe one word. "But why did you get so upset?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She muttered, turning away from me. Now I was really confused, so she's 'not gay' but she doesn't want to talk about why she got upset.

"Well, I'm not gonna force you to tell me, but will you at least come back to the common room and talk this out civilly with Ella. She didn't mean what she said you know."

"It sounded like she did." Jade sniffed, accepting the hand I offered her and pulling herself up.

"I know, well, she was angry and people say stuff they don't mean when they're angry." I reassured her as we walked back towards the common room.

"Yeah, well." Jade grumbled, wiping her eyes and performing a spell that would make the puffiness go down. I wished she'd tell me how to do that. I gave the Fat Lady the password and she swung outwards to reveal the Gryffindor common room. To no one's surprise, Hugo and Frank were pulling pranks on every person who walked through the portrait hole, I ducked instinctively as a large wad of stinky dragon dung flew over my head from the corner of the room where Hugo and Frank were laughing insanely.

"Just because you're my brother doesn't mean you're exempt from detention Hugo!" I yelled at him. "Same goes for you Frank."

If the two of them had heard me, it didn't phase them one bit as they continued to laugh their immature butts off.

I walked towards the stairs to the girls dorm, Jade following in my wake. I could hear Rio yelling at Ella from the bottom of the stairs and Ella protesting just as loudly.

"Why would you say that to her?" Rio screamed as we climbed the stairs. "Why would you accuse her of being gay just because you thought that she was looking at your boobs! Let along call her a fag! That's low Ella, really low."

"I didn't mean it." We heard Ella yell back "It was the heat of the moment and it just slipped out. I wish I hadn't said it"

"Well you should've thought of that before it 'slipped out' Ella! I can't believe you, You're always so nice and sweet, what's happened to you?"

"I don't know."

We pushed open the door quietly and both girls froze to stare at us.

"Jade, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, I was angry and it slipped out and I'm really, really sorry. I don't think you're gay or a fag or any of that." Ella rambled but Jade held up a hand to stop her.

"I know, I know Ella, I'm sorry for overreacting." Jade replied

"You don't need to be sorry, it was me that went that low, and I don't want to see you cry because it makes me really upset and it makes you doubly upset because I insulted you to the point of making you cry and-"

"Ella, shut up! You're making my head hurt. I forgive you, alright?" Jade exclaimed. Ella looked at the ground.

"You really shouldn't you know, I did something unforgivable."

"Well, you're lucky I'm a forgiving person." Jade grinned back at her.

"One big happy family again!" I exclaimed, flopping back on my bed "Hug it out, hug it out" I said, gesturing to Jade and Ella who were standing awkwardly beside each other. They both looked hesitant.

"Oh come on Ella!" Rio exclaimed "Jade wasn't looking checking you out and we both know it."

Ella and Jade put their arms around each other stiffly. It was the most awkward three seconds of my life, and possibly theirs too.

"I'm sorry" Ella said, pulling away from the hug.

"I know." Jade replied.

The door opened to reveal Mae, looking bewildered at the sight that lay before her. It looked weird, even to me who knew what was going on from the very beginning. Rio and I looking satisfied, both lying on our beds and Ella and Jade standing awkwardly facing each other in the centre of the room.

"Dare I ask?" Mae said, one eyebrow raised. I shook my head.

"You don't want to know."

* * *

"Oi, Weasley." I heard Malfoy yell from across the entrance hall the next day. I groaned and turned around.

"What do you want Malfoy?" I asked exasperatedly, as Ella, Rio and Jade walked on up the marble staircase, not wanting to talk to Malfoy. Ella and Jade were acting as though the fiasco last night had never happened, though Quidditch practise was now a tender subject between the two.

"We still on for tutoring tonight?" he asked. I scoffed

"After how you treated me last night, I think not Malfoy."

"But Weasley" He spluttered

"But what Malfoy?" I asked angrily, rousing on him.

"I– Nothing"

"Yeah, damn straight 'nothing'" I muttered angrily to myself as I hurried away up the marble staircase, trying to catch up with Ella, Rio and Jade who were quite far ahead of me. I could just see Rio's black head next to Ella's dirty blonde one. I couldn't see Jade at all. I sighed, either Jade had a different class to us now, or she and Ella had just argued again. I pushed through the crowds, who thankfully parted when they saw who was trying to get through.

"Thanks" I said a first year who pretty much jumped out of my way when I ran in her direction.

"Rio, Ella" I called as the crowd went back to forming a solid wall moving up the staircase.

"Rose!" Rio called jovially "How was the adopted Malfoy?"

"Thanks for waiting." I grumbled "Where's Jade?"

"McGonagall wanted to talk to her, something about her transfiguration grades." Ella said. _Thank god_ I thought, I didn't think I could handle another bust up between them.

"What do we have now?" Rio asked

"Um, I think it's charms." Ella said, consulting her timetable "yeah, Charms."

"Well, come on then, we'll be late." I said, turning and joining the throng of people that were headed up the stairs

"Rose, why can't you just use your head girl authority to get through all these people?" Rio groaned as we pushed against the crowd. I was about to reply when Ella grabbed my hand and pulled both Rio and I through a tapestry.

"Secret passageway to the fourth floor." Ella grinned. "Abi showed me."

"Ella, you are brilliant!" Rio exclaimed as we ascended the staircase, this cut our travel time down by three quarters. "Can we use this all the time?"'

"Not all the time we don't want to draw attention to it," Ella replied "But when the crowds are bad, then yes, we can."

* * *

"Miss Weasley?" A voice called across the entrance hall before Lunch. I turned to see Professor Simona hurrying towards me.

"This cannot be good." I muttered to Rio, Jade and Ella. "Go sit down, I've got a feeling that this isn't going to be pretty." I hitched a smile onto my face. "Hi Professor." I said in a falsely cheery voice.

"Miss Weasley, am I correct in saying that you agreed to tutor Mister Malfoy in mathematics?" she asked. I nodded, how had she found that out? "and am I also correct in saying that you have withdrawn your agreement?"

"Yeah" I said, wondering if she had bugged us.

"Well, seeing as you're mister Malfoy's partner for this year, you _will_ tutor him." She insisted.

"What! No, Professor, you don't understand. He tackled me into a bookcase and made jokes about my hair!" I protested.

"From what Mister Malfoy has told me, it was no worse than what you did. You will meet with mister Malfoy in the library every day at six thirty until seven thirty. That is my final word." And with that, she turned on her heels and hurried back up the marble staircase. So Malfoy had told her. That little rat! I was going to get him back for this if It was the last thing I did. I trudged towards the Gryffindor table, my spirits thoroughly dampened.

"What happened?" the three of them asked immediately. "Are you in trouble?"

"No" I said miserably "I have to tutor Malfoy in maths, Professor Simona said I had to no matter what."

If I was expecting sympathy from my friends, I was wildly wrong. All three of them burst out laughing.

"Thanks guys" I said sarcastically "Love you too."

"Have fun Rosie!" Jade said, clapping me on the back.

"My luck sucks at the moment." I said grumpily, looking at my toasted cheese sandwich.

"Oi! Rose"

"What Albus!" I snapped, rounding on him as he, Oliver and Daniel came up behind me.

"Do you mind telling me what's going on with my chasers? Couldn't get anything out of that one." He gestured to Jade.

"You told me that McGonagall wanted to see her about her transfiguration marks!" I snapped at Ella and Rio.

"That's what Al told us," Rio said.

"And you believed him? You're something else you two are. It's a standard rule, never believe anything Albus Potter says."

"Shit, sorry" Rio said, raising her hands "Jade was the one that went with him."

"Alright Al," I said sweetly "I'll tell you what's up."

"Thank you!" He exclaimed

"It's none of your business what's up, we'll sort it out ourselves."

"I hate you Rose." He joked. "I _will_ find out, one way or another."

"No you will not" I muttered as he, Oliver and Daniel retreated back to their spots. "Watch out for him, he's going to try and wriggle the truth out of you somehow."

Rio's answer was cut off by the bell, signalling the start of afternoon classes.

* * *

The library was eerily quiet as I walked into it that evening. Malfoy was sitting in the same spot as last time, thankfully not rocking arrogantly back on his chair. I grimaced and made my way over to him.

"Weasley." He regarded "Nice of you to show up."

"Oh shut up Malfoy, I'm only a minute late." I snapped, pulling my books out of my bag. "Did you bring your textbook this time?"

Malfoy wordlessly pulled his textbook out of his bag.

"Alright" I said, genuinely surprised "Open to page sixteen."

Malfoy did so without complaint and I was beginning to think that he would actually co operate this session.

"What do you need help with?" I asked, taking out a quill and parchment.

"The one with the letters" he said.

"Algebra?" I asked.

"Yes"

"I taught you that last night!"

"I wasn't listening."

"Well, I'd figured that much." Malfoy didn't reply. And I sighed, if either of us was going to get anything out of this I may as well explain this to him. I dragged up all the information that I'd given him last night and explained it to him again, pointing at the parts of the equation, it was only when I looked up at him to see if he understood did I see that he was staring at the forest again.

"Malfoy!" I shouted, earning an angry glare from Madame Filch. I lowered my voice to an angry whisper. "Are you listening to a word I'm saying?"

"Some bits." Malfoy admitted. "But no, not really"

I threw down my quill angrily. "Do you even _want_ to learn? Or did you just get me to do this to spite me?"

Malfoy sighed and turned to face me. "Weasley, I think it's time I explained everything to you. I suggest you get comfortable, it's a long story."


	5. Glad You Came

"Funny Malfoy," I smirked disbelievingly, "Really _dramatic_."

"I'm serious Rose, I need you to listen." Malfoy said quietly back. Whoa! Did he just call me Rose?

"Y-you called me Rose." I stammered "Not Weasley."

"Now will you listen to me?" he hissed, looking around for others who might be eavesdropping.

"Fine" I snapped, settling back into my chair, "I'm listening."

"Well firstly, I'm not normally like this, all obnoxious and stuff," he started. I scoffed. He ignored me. "I don't normally reek of cheese either, and yes Rose, I know what a shower is."

I raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. Malfoy took a deep breath and continued.

"In fourth year, I started getting these really bad headaches that wouldn't go away, ever. That's why I was off school for ages. St Mungo's was trying to find a cure for it but no dice... so I've been on these damn pills for years. They're these wizarding enhancements of muggle panadol, god knows what they're called, but they make me a totally different person. I only put up with them because they make my headaches go away, but when I have them it's like watching life through a television screen and whatever I think just pops out of my mouth, it's like I have no control over anything I say or do. I didn't tell anyone because I just thought it was a side effect of the drug and it would go away once I got used to it. But it didn't go away and ever since then I've been struggling to hide my grades from my parents so they don't know what's happening –"

"Why?" I interrupted, speaking for the first time since he had began his story. "You'll stop getting bad marks and you might get taken off the pills."

"I don't want them to worry." Malfoy replied quietly.

"Malfoy... you're being really selfless and all which is _really_ odd and is totally creeping me out, but you really need to tell someone about this." I said, leaning forward.

"My parents won't care, they never care." Malfoy said so quietly that I had to lean in so that my ear was almost at his mouth.

"Why?" I asked

"I don't know! They're always too busy to pay any attention to me. Dad's obsessed with his status and his work and Mum just paints her nails and sits in the sun room while the house elves wait on her." Malfoy mumbled. "They visited me _once_ in the entire time that I was in St. Mungo's"

"Tough." I said, trying not to let on that my heart was bleeding for him. Imagine not being cared about by your own parents? It didn't bear thinking about. Ugh, my heart is bleeding for _Malfoy?_ The same Malfoy who I'd hated for years. My head was full of mixed emotions. Should I comfort him, or should I continue my cold stance. It wasn't exactly his fault that he'd been a jerk to me since forever, although those first three years _were_ his doing, but since we were fourteen he had no control over what he did or said to me, or so he said. There was always the possibility that he was lying for attention and there was _no way_ I was showing any sort of compassion until I had solid proof that this was true... even if I had to go to ridiculous lengths to get it, because if what Malfoy says is true, then his parents could be charged with neglect, and the healers at St. Mungo's could also cop a heavy fine if it was found that Malfoy's pills weren't supposed to be taken by him.

"I'm sorry for dumping this on you." He muttered "I'm sorry, Rose, I only took half my dose today and it feels like my head's about to crack open, I should go lie down."

"Yeah, I think we'll call it a night." I said, starting to pack my books into my bag as Malfoy slung his over his shoulder and started to walk out.

"Scorpius," I called after him, he turned around in shock at the use of his first name. "The brown hair, is that the drug or is that just you."

"Mum has brown hair, It started to come through over the summer, It's happened before, my hair starting to change colour I mean. It was brown when I was a baby too." He replied. The signature smirk that always played around his lips was gone and I knew that he was being serious. I didn't know what to say, so I just went back to putting my stuff in my bag. I heard his footsteps start up again, and then falter as he reached the door.

"Rose?" He voiced softly.

"Yeah" I replied

"I'm glad you came."

"You're welcome."

Malfoy walked out, leaving me alone in the silent library, my thoughts reeling as my attention was drawn out of the window at the sparkling stars in the sky and I knew that my universe would never be the same.

* * *

"What do you mean you're not coming?" Ella exclaimed

"I told you," Rio replied "I have my Healer entrance test in November and I need to study!"

"That's in _November_ Rio! November, it's _October_ you have a month left to study, this is the _first quidditch match of the season_ you can't miss it." Jade complained. "Ella and I have been practising for weeks for this, _and_ it's against Slytherin!"

"So?" Rio said through a mouthful of pumpkin juice.

" _So?_ " Ella mocked " _So?_ Are you freaking serious, you won't watch us pulverise Slytherin? There is something seriously wrong with you Rio Blanche."

"Fine!" Rio yelled, "Fine, I'll come. But I won't come to the after party if we win. I'll be studying."

Ella and Jade slapped each other high fives as I returned to my bacon. The hype for the first Quidditch game of the season was seriously overrated, especially since the game was against Slytherin. It was just Quidditch, it wasn't as if some celebrity was coming to Hogwarts, though the Gryffindor team practically _were_ celebrities. We'd won the Quidditch cup for fifteen years running and ten years before that, not that I cared. Sport was never my thing.

"You'll come, won't you Rose?" Jade asked eagerly as she gobbled down scrambled eggs.

"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world. Well actually I wouldn't miss it for my life because that's what's on the line if I don't come." I replied.

"Oh, Ha ha." Ella said sarcastically, practically bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement although something seemed slightly off, she had the edges of her sleeves in her hands as though she didn't want them to ride up as she moved around, she also looked unnaturally pale, although all of this was probably to do with nerves rather than an illness of some sorts.

"Eleanor! Jade!" Al's voice called and we turned to see him, Oliver, Frank and Hugo walking towards us.

"What do you want Severus?" Ella yelled at him, earning a death stare. It was all good fun though, whenever Al used Ella's full name, Ella would use his middle name.

"We're going down to the pitch now, coming?" Frank piped up, giving his sister a fleeting hug before retreating back behind Albus.

"Yeah," Jade said "I'm ready to kick some Slytherin ass."

"See you soon yeah?" Ella said to Rio and I before following Jade and the rest of the team out of the hall.

"Good luck!" I called after them before looking over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy looked slightly nervous, though I was disappointed to see that his cocky smirk had found its way back onto his face after a two week disappearance.

"What do you think their odds are?" I asked Rio, nodding towards the Slytherin team, who all looked slightly queasy.

" _Not_ in their favour." Rio replied with a snort at the sight of the seven weedy team members. Their beaters, two boys called Jones and Williams were second years, smaller than a tree sapling and looked like they would fall off their brooms when they lifted the club.

"Looks like this is going to be the easiest game ever." I muttered as the plates were magically cleaned. I looked up to the ceiling to check the weather when I saw a familiar tawny owl heading towards me. "Hey Rio, look, It's Pestle." I said, pointing at her owl as it flew towards us.

"His name is _Nestle_ Rose and you know it!" Rio joked as Nestle dropped the letter in his beak and flew off. (Her owl is actually called Nestle by the way)

"It's from Mum." She said, looking at the back of the envelope, "That's odd, she never sends me letters via owl." She tore open the envelope and began to read the letter. I watched as her expression changed from happy, to worried, to fear, to horror and then her face crumpled as the letter fell to the ground. She let out a dry sob, which was followed by more and more until she was crying into my shoulder.

"Rio, whoa, Rio what's happened? Are you alright?" I asked, patting her shoulder, still really confused about the whole thing. Rio shook her head, grabbed her bag and ran out of the hall, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Was it something I said?" I muttered to myself as the bell rang, signalling us to start moving down to the Quidditch Pitch.

When I reached the wooden doors I made a split decision. Albus would slay me within an inch of my life for missing the match but something in my gut told me that Rio needed me now more than ever.

Pushing against the crowds, I ran the opposite way up the marble staircase, not towards Gryffindor tower, but towards the girls' bathrooms on the second floor. The ones that were always out of order. Rio would go there over anywhere else because it was where she had the least chance of being disturbed.

My footfalls were as loud as thunderclaps on the floor as I ran towards the bathroom. It was eerily quiet, the whole school being down at the Quidditch pitch but that wasn't to say that it didn't unnerve me slightly. A quiet Hogwarts was like an un-hairy Hagrid.

"Rio?" I whispered, pushing open the door of the bathroom to be met with the face of a young girl. "Hello Myrtle." I said, walking through her which gave me a most uncomfortable sensation of walking through an ice cold shower. "Is Rio here?"

"Second cubicle" Myrtle said carelessly, gliding over to her toilet and diving in. I pulled my robes up as the bathroom was almost always flooded, and made my way towards the second cubicle, in which I could hear quiet sobs.

"Rio?" I said, pushing against the door, only to find that it was locked. "ReeRee, please let me in. It's Rose. "

The sobbing from inside the cubicle continued.

"I'm not leaving, so you can either stay in there forever or tell me." I said, leaning against the door.

"W-Why are you s-so stubborn?" Rio's voice said from within the cubicle and the sound the door being unlocked was heard.

"Because I'm Ron Weasley's daughter" I grinned. Rio didn't grin back, in fact she just wordlessly handed me a piece of paper, the letter that she'd got in the Great Hall, just ten minutes previously. I raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded silently. I unfolded it and let my eyes scan over the paper.

 _Dear Rio_ ,

_You may be wondering why I'm writing by Owl, and not just flooing you like normal. Well, the answer to that is I don't think I'll be able to tell you in person, so I'll just write it to you. There's only one easy way to say this, Jarrah is dead. She was at Elise's last night and Elise got up in the morning and found Jarrah dead on the bathroom floor. She'd slit her wrists. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you in person._

_Love Mum, Dad and Elise._

My mouth dropped open in shock. Jarrah was dead? It couldn't be true, and dead as a result of suicide too. It just didn't seem real. I didn't know much about wizarding self harm, but I knew that wounds or blades could be enchanted so that the wound didn't congeal. I couldn't believe that Jarrah was _dead_. She'd always been such fun to be around whenever I went to the Blanche's for the summer, she and Rio's other sister, Elise had made up the best games that occupied us for hours. And now Jarrah was _dead_.

"Oh Rio," I said sympathetically, holding my arms out to her, "I'm so sorry."

Rio embraced me, sobbing into my chest. Tears made their way out of my eyes, down my cheeks and into Rio's brown hair. We stood there, both crying into each other's shoulders, crying for a loved one that we'd lost. It wasn't until at least an hour later that Rio spoke, her voice cracking from all the crying.

"Rose?"

"Mmm"

"I'm glad you came. Instead of going to Quidditch I mean."

"I knew you needed me more than Gryffindor did," I said, giving her a watery smile.

* * *

"Rose Minerva Weasley!" Ella, Albus and Jade yelled as they entered the common room.

"Here comes trouble." I muttered to Rio, who was writing a letter to her family, biting down hard on her lip as she did so.

"HOW DARE YOU MISS THE MATCH!" Albus screamed "AND YOU TOO RIO, HOW DARE YOU MISS US SQUISH SLYTHERIN!"

"Albus, dear, calm your tits and let me explain." I managed to get in before Albus overrode me.

"That was the fucking most amazing game ever and you two _missed_ it!"

"Al-"

"DON'T _AL_ ME!"

"Severus, shut the hell up and listen to me!"

"Don't call me Severus!"

"Then don't yell at me!"

"Fine! But you'd better have a _really_ good excuse, like somebody dying or something." Al spat. Rio burst into tears and not bothering that the whole common room was watching, ran up the stairs to our dorm.

"What's up with her?" Al asked cluelessly.

"You idiot!" I screamed, slapping him over the head with my hand "It was her sister that died!"


	6. True Colours

So I _might've_ yelled at Albus a little more than necessary. I was just so angry at him. He may be my cousin, but he is the biggest douchebag in history. He's completely insensitive and clueless and sometimes I want to throw him off the astronomy tower.

"For the last time Rose! I didn't know about Rio's sister, I've already apologised and she forgave me, what's got your wand in a knot?" Albus begged three days later as I scribbled away at an essay.

"Hmph" I mumbled, ignoring him.

"If this is about the Quidditch match, then I'm sorry for yelling at you. I didn't know!" Albus said, I continued to ignore him. "God damnit Rose! I'm sorry alright, so fucking talk to me alright!"

"Shut up!" I yelled "I'm trying to study, I have an arithmancy test on Monday and you are not freaking helping me."

"Now she talks," Albus said, throwing his arms into the air dramatically "I should yell at you more often."

"Go away Albus, you're the last person I want to talk to now." I snapped, pushing him away.

"But I'm still on your list aren't I?" Albus said cornily.

"No, you are not. Now piss off before I hex you."

"Rose." He whined. I drew my wand threateningly. "Alright, alright, I'm going."

"Finally" I muttered as Albus walked back over to Oliver and Daniel, murmuring to himself. I picked up my quill again and scratched a few more words into the paper before putting it back down with a sigh. This whole time I had been forcing myself to concentrate on my studying, and it was working, until Albus had decided to come and bug me for my forgiveness. Well of course I'm not going to forgive him if he pulls me out of my study vibe. The truth was, the studying was just a way to keep my mind off all the shit in my life right now. I feel like I'm carrying the weight of the world, what with Malfoy confiding in me about his pills and then Rio's sister dying, Albus being a complete douche and the fact that Grandma Jean had just been diagnosed with cancer. Mum owled me last night to tell me the bad news. Hugo's still a bit depressed, he and Grandma Jean are really close.

I spotted Ella and Jade sitting by the fireplace, joking with each other about something that I couldn't hear. I sighed, I should be over there with them, not stressing about how bitterly unfair my life was at the moment, even though it's absolutely nothing compared to Rio's or Malfoy's, I'd just had their problems dumped on me, they actually had to deal with them.

I shut my arithmancy textbook, shoved it into my bag and walked across the room to Ella and Jade.

"Hey" I said, sitting down next to Ella "What're you talking about?"

"Muggle studies," Jade said "Did you know that we're still allowed to go comping, but just not outside the Hogwarts grounds… how ridiculous is that?"

"It's _camping_ , Jade" I explained

"Whatever Mrs I-Know-Everything" Jade teased. "What do you do when you go _camping_ anyway?"

"It's quite fun, Mum, Dad, Hugo and I have gone a few times, bloody cold at night though, but we'll be able to us heating charms for that. When did they say we're going?"

"Late January." Ella gulped.

"What!" I exclaimed "They can't make us go then, we'll freeze to death!"

"We'll be able to use heating charms." Jade said carelessly, "We-"

"Oi, Rose!" I turned to see Lily walking towards me.

"What?" I asked angrily as she plonked herself down in between Ella and I.

"Hi Ella" she said before turning to look at me. "Guess what Rosie."

"What?" I said exasperatedly. "Can't you see I'm busy right now?" Lily ignored me.

"You're late for Patrol." She said with a smile on her face. "That's odd, Albus forgot too."

"Shit!" I yelled, jumping up and sprinting to the dormitory, yelling for Albus to be ready when I got back down with my cloak and badge. I burst through the door, saying a quick hello and goodbye to Rio as I darted in and out.

"Late for something Rose?" Rio asked glumly as I ran out of the room.

"Patrol" I shouted back, my face flushing a deep red as I realised that this could _not_ be good for my reputation, for _our_ reputation.

"Are you ready?" I yelled to Al as I swung my cloak over my shoulders and pinning my badge to my jumper, stabbing myself in the boob in the process.

"Yeah" Al managed to say before I grabbed him by the front of the T-Shirt and dragged him out of the common room.

"Jeez Rosie, I feel sorry for the guy you marry, you're going to be the most abusive wife." Al said as I dragged him down the seventh floor corridor.

"Oh shut up Severus." I snapped, rounding the corner to the Prefect Common room where we were supposed to be half an hour ago.

"Do not call me Severus!" Albus whined again.

"Then quit whining!" I yelled, giving the password to the pumpkin that was disguised as the common room entrance. The pumpkin cracked exactly in half, leaving an opening for us to clamber through.

"Nice of you to show up" I heard Malfoy drawl from a chair in the left hand corner of the room. My retort died on my tongue as I remembered about the pills. _He's not himself_ I thought firmly to myself, forcing myself to look away and ignore him, Apologising profusely to the other prefects as I gave out orders as to where they were supposed to patrol.

"Report back here at midnight." I concluded "Anyone caught out of bed deduct fifty house points from and issue a detention to. All names will be given to either Albus or I so we can organise the detentions."

"We know this already Weasley, why don't you shut your mouth and let us get on with it." Malfoy said, getting out of his chair and pushing open the pumpkin door. To my dismay, everyone mumbled their responses and followed him. I was about to yell something after Malfoy but bit my tongue. _It's not his fault, it's the pills talking._

* * *

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do Not!"

" _Do too!"_

"Oh will you two shut up!" I snapped at Ella and Jade as they discussed Ella's flying technique. According to Jade she leant forward too much on her broom and that was why she always got pulled for contact.

"It's true though! You believe me don't you Rosie?" Jade asked, looking up from her homework.

"I have no fricken idea what you're talking about, but you sound like a bunch of two year olds." I reprimanded, attempting to bury my head back into my book, which I had found fascinating until fifteen seconds ago when Ella and Jade began to shout. It was like the incident a few weeks back had never happened. The two of them were as good, if not better friends than before the little 'misunderstanding'. At least they could let things go. Me? I'm still holding a grudge towards a girl who called me a 'ranga' when I was six. That was eleven years ago.

"You just need to lean back a bit, then you won't run into everyone, we almost lost that last game when you barged into Nouveau as he was trying to shoot that goal. You're a chaser Ella, not a beater." Jade said.

"So you're saying we almost lost that game because of me?" Ella said, her expression turning hurt.

"No, I'm just saying that if you keep doing that we will lose." Jade said.

"It's the same thing!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Will you shut up already, I thought you were more mature than this, Ella, listen to Jade, Jade listen to Ella."

"I'm not going to listen to her," Ella protested "she's criticising my flying technique, I get the goals in because I'm fast, so no hate JM."

"Never call me that again." Jade said "That is for my mother's lips to say only."

"Stop it!" I yelled "If you're going to be like this then we'll go down to breakfast early, no wonder Rio and Mae taken to escaping to the library in the mornings, it's impossible to get anything done with you two in the room."

"Fine" Ella snapped, crossing to her dresser and pulling out a fresh set of robes. Aiming a kick at Jade she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Do you reckon you could at least be nice with your criticism?" I said to Jade.

"I'm just thinking of the team." Jade said, putting her hands up in mock surrender.

"Would it hurt to think of Ella's feelings too?" I hissed angrily.

"Take a chill pill Rose. Ella's fine."

"Jade, sit." I said, gesturing to my bed. The smile dripped off her face, as she saw the serious look on my face.

"What?" she asked, complying and walking over from her dresser to my bed.

"I've known Ella my whole life and if there's something that I've noticed about her, it's this. Ella loves impressing people. She wants to be noticed, and as the third child and daughter in her family she never really gets noticed as much as Frank, Alice or Abi do. And one thing that Ella hates is when people criticise her. Trust me, I nitpicked the hell out of her essay once and I've never edited another. It's her pet peeve."

"Wow" Jade said, as I finished. "I was just trying to help her improve, but if she's that iffy about it I won't bother."

"Good." I said, walking to my trunk and pulling out a new set of robes, a short sleeved blouse because today was going to shape up to be sunny, the rising sun was already warming the dorm and I could feel myself starting to sweat. I performed a simple perspiring charm which stopped me from sweating and/or smelling. I pulled my hangings around me and changed into my blouse and pleated skirt.

"Whoa, Jade, can you at least go behind your hangings?" I said, clamping my eyes shut at the sight that lay before me. "We don't all want to see you naked in the mornings."

"Turn your back if it _embarrasses_ you." Jade said.

"Don't worry, I am." I said, squeezing my eyes shut tighter.

"Oh, so it does embarrass you?"

"I don't want to see you get changed… is that illegal or something?"

"Yes." Jade joked. "It's okay, you can look now."

"Are you sure." I said, not trusting her.

"Rose! As if I _want_ you to see me naked."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" I opened my eyes and proceeded to look for my bag, which I was pretty sure I had dumped somewhere around the room last night. I finally spotted it in the wastepaper basket.

"How the hell did it get in there?" Jade asked, rolling up her long sleeved blouse to her elbows, all her short sleeved ones being in the washing chute waiting to be replaced by the house elves.

"I got in at one this morning, give me a break Jade." I said, stifling a yawn as I packed my books for the day into my bag.

"Ella, you almost done in there?" Jade asked, rapping on the bathroom door. "Only, some of us need to use the bathroom."

"Yeah" Ella's voice said faintly from the bathroom. "One sec." the sounds of splashing water were heard as Ella washed her hands before the door clicked open and Ella emerged.

"Thank you." Jade said quickly, barging past Ella and locking the door behind her.

"Took your time" I said to Ella, "what were you doing in there?"

"Trying to decide whether or not to have a shower or not. I'll have one tonight though." Ella said, pulling the ends of her long sleeved blouse down nervously.

"Long sleeves, really? Its thirty degrees out there!" I said, jabbing my thumb at the window.

"I'm feeling a little sick." Ella said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Now that I looked, Ella did look a little pale.

"D'you want to go to Madame Pomfrey?" I asked, concerned.

"No, I'll be fine for the day. It's probably just some twenty-four hour thing."

"Mmm" I agreed. "Shall we go?"

"Sounds good." Jade said brightly, striding out of the bathroom and picking up her things. "I'm starving."

I rolled my eyes as Ella and Jade strolled out of the room together, side by side, chatting away about homework and classes. I rolled my eyes and started after them. I never really would understand those two.

* * *

"Hi Mae!" Jade said jovially as we saw Mae coming down the hall towards us from the library. "Where's R-dog?"

"Never say that again." Ella said, punching Jade on the arm playfully.

"Fine then" Jade said "Where's Rio."

"She's still in the library, she said she'd be a bit longer." Mae replied.

"Her loss," Jade said, grabbing Mae's hand "Come down to breakfast with us."

"You seem awfully chipper." Mae laughed, following Jade down the marble staircase.

"Must be the sun coming out to play."

"You go" I said to Ella, "I want to check on Rio." Ella nodded and followed Jade and Mae down towards the great hall as I took off in the opposite direction towards the library. I was really worried about Rio. She'd bottled herself away in the three days since Jarrah's death. She'd be going home over the weekend for her funeral and I really wanted to make sure that she was alright and coping.

Of course, Jarrah's death would've hit Rio and her family the hardest, but it had hit me pretty hard too and Jade and Ella as well, though I knew they didn't want to show it. Jarrah had been one of my closest friends that wasn't my age. The Blanche's house was like my third home (The burrow being my second) and Jarrah, or Rio's other sister, Elise had never had any problem with Rio bringing us home for the summer.

I walked into the silent library. It didn't take me long to find Rio, as she was the only person in there, everyone else being down at breakfast. She was slumped over her potions textbook, her body shaking with silent sobs. My heart melted with sympathy for her and I reached out and touched her shoulder.

"Rio" I said softly.

"I-I knew you'd come eventually." Rio said, not looking up. "You worry too much Rosie."

"Talk to me Rio." I said, prying her up off the textbook and wiping the tears off her face. Rio shook her head.

"I'm fine Rose, really." She insisted, closing the potions textbook. "Let's go to breakfast."

"You're not fine." I said, standing up with her. "You're a mess, please Rio, talk to me."

"Honestly, I'm coping, don't worry yourself."

"Well, if that's the way you feel…" I said, relenting, I didn't want to pry. "But I just want you to know that if you _ever_ need anyone to vent to or a shoulder to cry on. I'm here."

"Thanks Rose." Rio said, cracking the first smile I'd seen on her face in days. "It means a lot to me."

"C'mere" I said, holding my arms open and Rio stepped into the hug. I just wanted her to be happy, and if that meant being the shoulder to cry on, then I was absolutely content with that.

* * *

"Rose, can I talk to you for a second?" Jade said, touching me briefly on the arm as I worked that evening.

"Yeah, sure" I said, putting down my quill.

"Um... can we go somewhere more private?" Jade said, looking around anxiously.

"Alright" I said, raising one eyebrow at her, but following her up to the dorm. The situation was obviously serious, because Jade never talked to me in private, she was one of those, 'let them know!' type girls. I shut the door behind me as Jade sat on her bed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Please don't judge me" Jade begged, her eyes full of fear.

"Wait... Jade are you pregnant?" I asked, hoping that I'd struck gold. Obviously not.

"Yes." She said sarcastically "And it's yours… of course not you twat." She paused "I'll never get pregnant though, not with a guy anyway." She said, looking at her bedspread. That's when it struck me. Jade was coming out, _Finally!_ I'd known she was gay ever since fifth year, when she and Ella started becoming quite close. I felt a stupid grin come across my face.

"Jade, what are you getting at?" I asked, wanting to hear the words from Jade's mouth.

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm lesbian."

"Oh my god, finally!" I shouted "Yes! Rio owes me six galleons."

"Wait, what? You knew?" Jade said, bewildered

"We've known since fifth year" I said, leaning forward to hug her.

"You've known longer than I have... wait you were betting on whether I was gay or not?" she looked offended.

"No, we were betting on when you'd come out, I said you'd come out before we finished Hogwarts and Rio said that you'd come out afterwards." I explained. "I'm six galleons richer."

"You're unbelievable. How did you figure it out before I did?" Jade asked.

"There are some things you just know" I shrugged

"And you don't want to run away screaming?"

"Jade, If I wanted to run away screaming, I'd have done so by now." Before I knew what was happening she had engulfed me in a hug. "This doesn't change anything Jade. You're still my best friend."

"What about the others?" she mumbled. "They'll care"

"No they won't, this doesn't change a fucking thing."

"They will."

"No they won't, and if they do I'll hex their asses to Neptune and back" I grinned.

"You don't know the full story" Jade said, looking at her hands.

"Go on" I prompted.

"What if I told you that I was in love with Ella?"


	7. I Have Confidence

Okay, so that did change things a bit. I could see that Jade could read my expression, no matter how hard I tried to hide it.

"I knew it…" she said bitterly, looking down, tears welling in her eyes. "I knew you'd judge me once you found out _who_ I was crushing on."

"I'm not judging you." I said calmly. "I'm just a little shocked is all."

"Hence you judging me." Jade said.

"I'm not freaking judging you! If you must know I think you're incredibly brave and awesome for telling me as openly as you did." I exclaimed.

"Alright, alright, I'm a little stressed out I admit and I _really_ don't want anyone to know right now, promise you won't tell anyone Rose. Not even Albus." Jade pleaded. I snorted

"Why would I tell Al? He's the biggest blabbermouth this school has ever seen." I laughed "He's also a douche." Jade gave a small smile.

"Seriously Rose, you can't tell anyone, _especially_ Ella."

"Yeah, I'm totally gonna stride out into the common room and announce that you're gay and in love with Ella…" I said sarcastically "Why would I tell anyone?"

"Just making sure." Jade muttered "It took a lot just to tell you, I don't want anyone else knowing… I might tell Rio though, seeing as I know that she's cool about it. I still can't believe you had six galleons on me."

I laughed, thinking about how Rio would react when Jade got round to telling her. I knew for a fact that Rio didn't have six galleons at the moment, having blown it all at the October Hogsmeade visit where she had mysteriously disappeared for two hours before returning to the three broomsticks and telling us that she got lost and couldn't find us.

"Do you really like Ella?" I asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"Yes" Jade said "I don't like her, I love her so much it hurts. But I know she doesn't feel the same way, you saw what she was like when she caught me checking her out, that was a narrow escape."

"I think you should tell her how you feel." I voiced

"What? And get screamed at about how I'm a 'dirty little fag' again. Those words hurt when she said them the first time Rose, they'll kill if I hear them again, especially from the lips of the girl that I love." Jade said dejectedly

"Ella didn't mean that and you know it." I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"She only didn't mean it because she thought she'd falsely accused me of something. If she knew she was right, then she would never have taken it back." Jade said, her eyes welling with tears and her body starting to shake with sobs. I couldn't believe it. I just could not believe it. Jade Marks was crying. Not just upset. But _crying!_ I had never _ever_ seen her cry before in my life, and I've known her for six and a half years.

"Hey, It's alright" I said, putting an arm around her shoulder "Ella'll understand. Sure it might be a little awkward at the time, but she'll come through. I know she will."

"But what if she yells, and gives me hell for it." Jade said timidly, wiping her eyes.

"Well… you cry a little, and then you wait for the sun to come out; it always does." I said.

"But… I love her." Jade repeated "I don't think I could handle her not talking to me."

I looked at Jade sympathetically. She was an absolute mess. She had just poured her heart out to me about the girl she loved, Ella, who also happened to be my best friend since birth. It meant a lot to me that Jade trusted me enough to tell me the deepest and most desperate desire of her heart, but it was also a lot of weight on my shoulders. I don't know why it happens, but whenever others tell me about a burden on their shoulders, I feel like I have to carry the burden too once they've told me. I don't mind, because It's only half of the load, but when more and more people confide in you, all of those half loads become heavier and heavier until they start to affect you as well, until you tell someone. Then the burden is halved off your shoulders and you tell someone else and it's halved again, until everyone knows and the burden on your shoulders is so small that you feel like you're not carrying it at all. But the thing is, I couldn't tell anyone, not about Jade and not about Scorpius. I couldn't tell anyone outside our immediate friends about Rio and Hugo and I are both carrying a quarter of the burden about Grandma Jean each.

Here Jade sat, asking me for advice on what to do. I've never had a relationship, but I love playing matchmaker, and anyone in their right minds could see that Jade and Ella are not made for each other. The advice I was going to give Jade was going to disappoint her greatly.

"Jade, I'm not telling you to give up on Ella, but do you want to see if you can fall for someone else, someone who actually plays for your team." I said hesitantly.

"I've tried Rose, I really have, but I've fallen for Ella so hard."

"Then you should tell Ella how you feel, regardless of the consequences" I said.

"Are you sure?"

That was the deathly question _Are you sure?_ No, I was not sure at all, in fact I wasn't even sure that I wasn't sure. _Confidence Rose_ I told myself. I had to have confidence that everything was going to turn out fine.

"Yes, I'm sure." I said as my ego started to grow.

"Thanks Rose," she said, hugging me awkwardly. "But I'll do it when I'm ready to."

"It's your choice" I said, nodding in a _touché_ way.

"You really are a great friend." Jade said, standing up and walking to the door. "Thank you. For everything."

"You're welcome" I said as she walked out.

You know what? Let them bring on all their problems; I'll do better than my best to sort all of them out.

* * *

"Jesus, when is Elise going to _stop_!" Rio exclaimed at breakfast the following week.

"Sister troubles?" Ella asked.

"Troubles? More like overprotectiveness. Honestly read this." Rio exclaimed exasperatedly, thrusting a letter she had just opened from Elise across the table at Ella and I.

_Dear Rio_

_How are you? You coping okay? You shouldn't be back at school this early, but mum and dad told me that you insisted. I'm really sorry about Jarrah, it was my fault, I didn't keep a close enough eye on her._

_Good luck for your Healer Exam in a couple of weeks._

_Lots of Love Elise._

"When is she going to realise that I'm _fine_ " Rio insisted as I passed the letter back over to her.

"Jarrah was her sister too you know, she's just worried for you." I replied.

"I don't need to be worried over." Rio grumbled.

"Ree, you've got to understand this situation." Ella said "Elise feels like she's responsible for Jarrah's death because she was staying at her place when it happened. You're all she's got left and she wants to protect you. It's an older sibling instinct, trust me I get it from Alice and Abi all the time. Frank says I do it to him too."

"But I'm _fine_ " Rio insisted

"Then _tell her!"_ I said "Then maybe she'll stop, although I can't guarantee that because you're her baby sister and she's going to dote on you for the rest of your life."

"I'm not a baby anymore" Rio exclaimed, it seemed like everything we said was affecting her negatively today.

"Fifteen years between you? I think you'll always be her baby sister." Ella snorted.

"Oh come on, just 'cause she's thirty two doesn't make me a baby."

"Compared to her you are. She's practically a dinosaur" I joked, Rio responded with the first laugh I'd heard emanate from her lips in two weeks.

"What's next?" Ella asked

"Muggle studies" I said and Ella clapped her hands excitedly.

"Did you know they're getting these things called caterpillars in!" Ella exclaimed.

"Caterpillars?" I asked, confused

"Yeah, you type something into them and like a million results come up within like two seconds." Ella said.

"Oh, Computers, I've got one at home. Dad thinks it's pointless but mum, Hugo and I use it a lot." I said.

"Oh is that what that thing in your living room is. I thought it was just a mini one of those watchama call it's" Ella said.

"A Television?" I said, closing my eyes in frustration. Ella really was hopeless when it came to muggle gadgets.

"Yeah, one of those" Ella replied happily "Hey, I think I convinced Mum and Dad to let us get one!"

"Nice. Do you actually know how to use one?" I asked.

"No! But that's what you're there for Rosie, to help us use it." Ella said, clapping me on the back.

"Nice to see that I'm cared about Ella" I said sarcastically. "Appreciated"

"Love you Rosie" she teased jokingly "I'm kidding, Mum said she'd get the guy who delivers it to set it up, then she'd perform some sort of spell on it to get it to work."

"Good luck with that." I said, a smirk playing around my lips.

"I won't need it!" Ella said "I'm an ace at Muggle technology."

* * *

"Rose! How. Do. I. Work. This. Stupid. Thing!" Ella exclaimed, hitting the computer on the side as she tried to make the mouse move. I laughed as I leant over and showed her how to use the mouse, instructing her on how to click with it and how to scroll on pages.

"What happened to you being an ace at this?" I asked

"It's harder than I thought" Ella whined. I glanced over at Jade who was quietly swearing at her computer as she waved her wand at it. She had been strangely quiet around Ella since she'd come out to me the week previously. I hoped it was because she was still thinking things through rather than being angry with me.

"This is stupid!" Ella exclaimed. "Neither Albus or I know how to use these things. You and Malfoy are the only ones that do and oh whoop de doo, you're partners."

"Scorpius" I corrected before I could stop myself.

"What?"

"Nothing" I said quickly, trying to cover it up. What had gotten into me today? Firstly I can't stop thinking about Scorpius and my tutoring session tonight, next I correct Ella when she says Malfoy… hell, and I'm even calling him Scorpius in my mind now. I shook my head to get rid of the feeling. Ugh, why am I starting to get the feeling that I actually _don't_ hate him anymore?

* * *

"Rose, you do realise that you'll be late for your tutoring session with Malfoy, don't you?" Jade called after me as I went up to the dorm that night.

"Yeah, but I come first." I called back before ascending the staircase, pulling my bushy red hair out of its braid and letting it flow freely down my back. I had tons of work to do, plus we needed to _type_ an essay for muggle studies on why muggles use computers.

I dumped my bag on my bed and flopped back onto it, wanting to fall asleep. But I had to tutor Malfoy in fifteen minutes, so that was out of the question and I had heaps of work which I was supposed to be starting now.

With a sigh, I heaved myself up and opened my bag, spreading out all of the work that I had to finish by tomorrow when something under Jade's bed caught my eye. It probably wouldn't have if it wasn't sticking out… or bright green. It was a box. I knew I shouldn't look inside, but come on, It's Jade. So unless she has some porn in there then I'm sure the contents are harmless. (If it is porn then I'm going to burn it)

I picked up the box and attempted to open it, only to find that it was locked. But not magically locked, it was locked with a key that Jade no doubtedly had on her at all times. Okay, so at this point most people would put the box back, giving up. But Mum has always told me that I'm too nosy for my own good. I can _never_ resist something with a lock on it.

I drew my wand and whispered _alohamora_ , hoping that she hadn't performed counter spells against it. She hadn't.

"Ah! Result!" I exclaimed quietly, stowing my wand back into my robes and opening up the box. Inside was a stack of parchment, all with Jade's untidy scrawl on it. I picked the first bit out and began to read to myself

_24_ _th_ _October 2024_

_Dear Ella,_

_You light up my world like nobody else, your smile is like the light of day to me and I think that you're amazing. The sparkle in your eyes makes me want to throw you in the air and shout 'hallelujah' you are so perfect in every possible way. I love you so much. You're the one for me. Please kiss me._

_Jade_

A smile gradually made its way across my face. They were love letters. Love letters form Jade to Ella. I quickly leafed through the pieces of parchment to find that they were all like that, every single one. I rummaged to the bottom of the box, pulling out the very last piece of parchment in there and reading through it.

 _16_ _th_ _September 2024_.

_Dear Ella,_

_I missed you so much over the summer, seeing you was like the Light of Day again, you burn brighter than the sun. I love you so much, probably more than a friend. Yeah, I'm in love with you Ella, I hope you can find it in your heart to love me too._

_Jade_

"Oh Jade" I muttered, placing the piece of parchment back in the box. "You're too sweet."

"Rose!" I heard Ella call up the stairs. I jumped about a foot into the air and hastily started to put the pieces of parchment back into the box. Nobody could know about this, especially not Ella. "Rose, you're late for tutoring with Malfoy!"

"I know." I yelled back, "Must've dozed off." I locked the box with my wand and shoved it back under Jade's bed just as the door swung open and Ella walked in. I quickly made it look like I was packing my bag up for tutoring.

"This isn't like you." Ella said "You're always impeccable. Always on time"

"I'm a little stressed lately." I said, closing the flap of my bag and swinging it over my shoulder. "I'll see you when I get back, yeah?"

"Bye" she called after me as I ran out of the dorm and through the common room. I slowed down once I reached the Library as I didn't want Scorpius to think that I was too eager to see him. Why am I even eager to see him anyway? Ugh.

I heard a giggle and a soft moan from around the corner. _Oh you are kidding me_ I thought, not another couple out of bed after hours. This was not what I needed right now. I fished my head girl badge out of my pocket and pinned it to my chest as I rounded the corner, ready to bust the couple, but what I saw was not was I had bargained for.

It was Scorpius, snogging a Ravenclaw girl that I recognised as Carla Mace, up against the wall. She giggled softly with her eyes closed as he sucked on her earlobe. I felt my gag reflex trigger and I turned away, hot anger consuming me threatening to envelope me completely, and that was when I realised, that was when I figured out why I had been thinking about him so much, why I had been referring to him as Scorpius instead of Malfoy. I didn't hate him anymore, not only did I not hate him, I loved him. And if you can't imagine that it gets any worse, then don't look. Not only do I love him, but I'm _in_ love with him. Oh fuck.


	8. Bloodstream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING! This chapter includes self harm and suicide attempts. Please don't read this chapter if you are at risk of being unsafe because of these words. If you need to skip it but you are afraid that you will miss vital information, please send me a message via this site or Tumblr and I will summarize the details for you. I don't want anybody putting themselves at risk just to keep up with this story.

I unfastened my cloak and threw it onto my bed, fuming. What was with everyone nowadays? It seemed like everyone was doing things _just_ to hurt my feelings. Just as I realise I'm in love with him fucking Carla Mace has to waltz in and take him. Just my freaking luck. I threw myself onto my bed and listened to the silence. I like silence. It gives me a chance to think, and I don't get much silence, what with the hyperactive Hugo as your brother. That's when I heard it, a small sob and then a dull thud from the bathroom. _Shit_ , I thought, pulling myself off the bed and over to the bathroom.

"Hello, are you alright? Who's in there?" I called through the door "It's Rose. Is that you Rio? Because we can talk if you need to" No answer "I'm coming in alright" I warned, as I turned the handle. Locked. Okay now I knew it was serious.

" _Alohamora"_ I whispered, pointing my wand at the lock and pushing open the door. At first all I saw was red and thought I was losing my marbles, but that's when I realised, it was blood, spattering the sink and parts of the walls.

"What the hell?" I whispered, looking around at the bright red bathroom. That's when my eyes fell on her, lying in the centre of the room, blood pulsing out of her left wrist, and a small cut on her right.

"Holy Shit, Ella!" I screamed, running over to her "What the fuck have you done to yourself?" I kicked the knife out of her hand as collapsed next to her, picking up her left wrist and wrapping it in my robes, applying pressure to stop the bleeding, it was fruitless, Ella was pale as death and my robes were already soaked. I could feel my gag reflex triggering as I took in how much blood there actually was.

"JADE!" I screamed, tears starting to flow down my face as I forced myself not to throw up. "JADE" I screamed again, but this time it came out as a sort of gargle. I breathed deeply and yelled again "JADE, ANYBODY, HELP?" The thundering of feet on the stairs told me that my cries had been heard and before I knew it Jade, Mae and Rio were standing in the doorway.

"Fuck!" Jade yelled, crossing over to where I was crying and trying to stop the bleeding. "What did you do?" Jade screamed.

"I found her like this," I sobbed, pointing to the knife that had spun across the bathroom when I had kicked it, "she did it to herself"

"Shit." Jade said, conjuring white bandages out of her wand. "Hold her arm, will you, I'm shaking"

I held Ella's arm out as it continued to pulse blood as Jade undid her belt and wrapped it as a tourniquet around Ella's lower arm, she then wrapped it up tightly in bandages, conjured from her wand, the blood soaking through in seconds. Jade kept this up, wrapping bandage after bandage around the wound until the blood flow slowed. I shot a glance at Mae and Rio who were still standing at the door.

"Go get Madam Pomfrey!" I yelled and Mae was gone before I finished. Poor Rio, however, stood there, frozen and I realised. Rio's sister had died of self-harm, and Rio had found her. Now seeing it over again was like a punch in the face for her.

"Go Rio." I said. Rio didn't need telling twice. She turned away and threw herself onto her bed, sobbing.

There was blood everywhere, all over my robes, all over my hands, face and hair. All over Jade's jeans and on her hands.

"Why would she do that?" I sobbed, pushing hair out of my face, smearing more of Ella's blood onto it. "Her family loves her and she's always happy. Why would she try and kill herself?"

"It looks like she's been doing it for a while." Jade said as she wrapped up the shallow cut on Ella's right wrist. She indicated healed scars all over her right arm. "I can't believe we didn't notice."

"I can't believe she'd do this." I sobbed, leaning into Jade's shoulder.

"Out of my way." came a voice of authority from the doorway. Madam Pomfrey was here; she swooped down on Ella's motionless form and put two fingers to her neck. "She's still alive, but only just, luckily you found her when you did or she would've bled out. Miss Jackson told me that she slit her wrists." Jade and I nodded "Very nice job on the tourniquet" she said to me and I pointed to Jade, still too shaken to speak.

"She'll need to be taken to the hospital wing." Madam Pomfrey said, conjuring up a stretcher and levitating Ella onto it. "Miss Jackson, could you please notify any immediate family that Miss Longbottom has at this school?" Mae nodded and sprinted off to find Frank. "Miss Blanche," she said to Rio, who was sitting up on her bed "could you please notify the headmistress to contact her parents and any other siblings?" Rio nodded and ran out after Mae. "Miss Weasley, Miss Marks, you're coming with me"

Jade and I followed silently as Madam Pomfrey walked quickly back down to the common room, levitating Ella's stretcher in front of her. When we reached the common room, the whispers started. I knew that Frank was in the library, with Hugo so he wouldn't be in any immediate shock before Mae got to him, but Albus let out a strangled cry as he saw Ella on the stretcher and Jade and I following behind, covered in blood.

We got out of the portrait hole without anyone blocking our way and started to make our way towards the hospital wing. Albus came sprinting after us.

"Rosie, Jade, what happened? Mae and Rio just sprinted out of the common room and then you two came down with Ella..." he trailed off as words failed him. I didn't say a word, neither did Jade. We walked in silence all the way to the hospital wing.

* * *

We all sat outside the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey hadn't let us in yet. Jade, Albus and I had waited there after Madame Pomfrey had kicked us out so she could operate on Ella, apparently the knife she'd used was enchanted to make sure the wound didn't stop bleeding. Mae, Hugo and Frank had bolted up several minutes later, the latter pale-faced and demanding answers. Jade had shakily told the whole story to them with a little help from Mae. That was when Alice and Abi, Ella's two older sisters, had shown up, also demanding answers. Their parents were on holidays in the Caribbean and would take a little longer to get there. Alice had disapparated right out of her boss's office at the Ministry when he had refused to let her off early. And so we told the story again.

"What the Hell?" Abi yelled "Why would she do that?"

"We don't know" Jade said, speaking for me, I was still too shaken by what I'd witnessed to speak. "Rosie just found her like that after she'd heard her faint."

Frank sniffed and Alice pulled him closer to her in a hug before speaking.

"I guess we should thank Rose and Jade" Alice said softly "If it wasn't for Rose finding her and Jade's tourniquet and bandages, Ella would be dead now."

"Yeah, I guess" Abi agreed "I'm still going to kill her when she wakes up"

Frank burst into tears.

"Hey, don't cry Frankenstein, it's just a figure of speech." Abi said, patting Frank's shoulder.

"Could you choose a better figure of speech? She almost died, and now you're talking about killing her." Frank sobbed.

"I was joking." Abi said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, Abs, we got that" Alice said, hugging Frank.

We sat in silence for another thirty minutes, Alice comforting Frank and Abi sitting with her head on Alice's shoulder. Albus, Jade, Hugo, Mae and I sat in silence until we heard the voices of Neville and Luna Longbottom. Alice, Abi and Frank jumped to their feet and ran down the corridor at their parents, all shouting at the same time. Frank threw himself into Luna's arms, sobbing. It was obvious that she too had been crying. Neville hugged Alice and Abi, trying not to cry as they walked towards the hospital wing as the doors opened.

"She'll be fine" Madam Pomfrey announced "Come on in", she beckoned to Luna, Neville, Alice, Abi and Frank and they hurried in without a complaint.

"Immediate family only" she said, stopping us in our tracks as we too tried to enter "Though I'll make an exception for you two. She'll want to thank you" She pointed at Jade and I "The rest of you will have to wait"

Mae started to protest, but Madam Pomfrey shut the door in her face. Jade and I looked at each other, reaching a silent agreement that we would let them have their moment.

Luna had broken down upon seeing Ella all bandaged up in a hospital bed. It appeared it had become too much for Abi too, as she was being comforted by Alice. Neville tried to maintain his steely look, but I could see tears brimming in his eyes. Frank however, had walked up to Ella's head and was whispering in her ear, angry tears filling his eyes. Jade and I sat down in chairs a good distance away as I heard Alice recount the story to her parents. Luna turned towards Jade and I and beckoned us closer. We stood and walked towards her. She didn't care that we were bloody, she just gave us both a huge hug.

"Thank you" she said with a forced smile "thank you for my daughter's life."

"If it wasn't for you two, we'd be dressing for a funeral" Neville said sombrely.

"Why would she do that though?" Abi asked again "Why would she fucking try to kill herself!"

"You should ask her when she wakes up" Frank said. He was holding Ella's other hand now.

* * *

"Eleanor Phoebe Longbottom" Abi screeched as soon as Ella opened her eyes "How fucking dare you try to kill yourself, how dare you scare the fucking shit out of us like that"

Poor Ella didn't even know where she was.

"Oi! Shut up Abi! You can yell at her later." Alice said, flicking her wand at Abi so that she moved her mouth but no sound came out.

"Ella?" Luna said, taking her daughters good hand. "Ella, can you hear me sweetie?"

"Mum?" Ella croaked "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital wing sweetie, you gave us quite a scare."

"Why'm I in the hospital wing? I'm supposed to be dead."

Luna shot a fearful glance at Neville who put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No you're not." Luna managed before breaking down.

"I am" Ella mumbled "I cut myself and I'm supposed to be dead."

"No" Luna sobbed as Ella just blinked at her, taking in her surroundings. Her eyes fell on Jade and I, we were both still covered in blood.

"You did it didn't you?" she said, pointing at Jade and I "You saved me, why?"

"W-we didn't want you to die" Jade said in an obvious tone.

"I wanted to die!" Ella yelled "I wanted to leave this world, I don't want to be here anymore!"

Luna gasped as Neville's eyes filled with tears, Alice had her arm around Abi who was crying and Frank was rocking back and forth on the ground, tears spilling down his face.

"Why?" Luna sobbed "Why do you want to die Ella?"

"Because I'm tired of being the spare, tired of being the one that no one notices" Ella said, tears welling in her eyes.

"What?" Neville asked his daughter, sitting down next to Luna.

"Admit it Dad, just admit it, there was never supposed to be an Eleanor Longbottom, there was always supposed to be an Alice, an Abigail and a Frank, but there was _never_ supposed to be an Eleanor. I was a mistake." Ella looked away from her parents as they contemplated this statement.

"Ella –" Luna started before she was cut off by her daughter.

"No mum! Don't. I was never supposed to be born, I figured I'd take myself off your hands. I don't want to be the spare child any more than you want a spare child. You don't need me, you don't want me, nobody does. Alice was named after Grandma, Abi was named after your friend and Frank was named after Grandpa, who am I named after? No one, I'm just another Longbottom."

Luna was sobbing uncontrollably by now, leaning into Neville's shoulder while Ella looked at them furiously.

"Ella, stop it." Alice scolded "you're making mum upset."

"What, like you've made me upset for the past seventeen years? I may not have shown it Alice, but It hurt when you and Abi called me mute, when you all went off to play Quidditch without asking me, I wanted to impress you so I joined the Gryffindor team, I don't even like quidditch!"

There was a collective gasp from around the room and I looked at Jade who looked scandalised that her quidditch buddy had turned out to be a fake.

"Ella, please just listen –" Luna tried again, but to no avail.

"Someone tell me when is it my turn? Don't I get a dream for myself? My whole life has been about impressing all of you and you just ignored me." Ella sobbed.

"ELEANOR!" Neville shouted "Listen to your mother." Ella was quiet immediately save for a few sobs.

"Ella, you don't understand." Luna started, wiping her eyes "You say that you're a spare, but you're not, actually you were the most planned out of any of your siblings."

Ella raised an eyebrow at her mother. I figured that this was the time for Jade and I to go, I tapped her on the shoulder and jerked my head at the door, she nodded and we got up only to be stopped by Neville.

"No, Rose, Jade, you're staying, you saved her and you have the right to hear this." He said, beckoning us back towards the bed. I tried to say no, the truth was, I didn't want to be there. Finding Ella bleeding on the bathroom floor was traumatic enough for me, but to see my best friend since birth talking about wanting to die? It was heartbreaking. I'd had no idea that she felt like this, she'd never shown any sign of depression before this, although I admit that her wearing of long sleeves in summer was a little suspicious, but I'd thought nothing of it then. It was all my fault, If I'd only realised back then, this may never have happened.

I found myself standing next to Jade beside Ella's bed as Luna began to speak again.

"When I was younger, I always wanted a daughter called Eleanor, Eleanor Lovegood because I didn't know who I would marry. You were planned even before I married your father, before I even met your father." Luna explained. Ella was silent, she seemed to be processing the statement. "Ella, you're perfect, and I don't want you to think otherwise." Luna said, putting a hand on her daughter's arm.

"I'm not perfect mum, no one is." Ella said, her expression stony.

"Ella, please, don't you ever feel like you're less than perfect, and if you ever feel like you're nothing, you should know that you're perfect, to me and dad, and Alice, Abi and Frank and everyone who is here today, they're here because they love you and want you to get better." Luna said, stroking Ella's hair lovingly. I heard Jade sniff from beside me as Ella burst into tears.

"I-I'm so so-sorry mum." She sobbed, reaching out with both arms for her mother. Luna bent down to hug Ella, kissing her on the forehead.

"That's our cue to leave" I whispered in Jade's ear. Jade nodded and we slipped away silently to let Ella have a moment with her family.

* * *

"Rose" Albus said as I walked out of the Hospital wing alongside Jade. "Can I speak to you, alone?" he looked at Jade pointedly.

"Geez Albus I can take a hint." Jade said, walking off in the opposite direction with Mae.

"Can we make this quick please Severus?" I asked "Only I've been up for about thirty hours straight and I'd love to go to bed."

"This is quick, promise. And don't call me Severus."

"Whatever Severus" I yawned "So what do you want to say."

"How do I tell Ella that I love her?"

"Finally figured it out have you?" I said, smiling

"What do you mean _finally_?" he asked, confused.

"Well Ella's been flirting with you non-stop since about fourth year and you've been blissfully oblivious. Well, I guess it's what she needs right now, a little love"

"Yeah… I guess. Wait she's been flirting with me since _fourth year_? How the hell did I not pick up on that? I didn't even know she was flirting with me at all." Albus exclaimed. I hit him playfully on the arm

"You're an idiot you know that right?" I said, smiling tiredly at him. "How'd you figure it out?"

"I was so scared she would die." Albus replied softly.

"Well so was I, but I'm not going to go about professing my love for her" I said.

"You don't understand. When I saw her lying on that stretcher, all broken and bloody, I just wanted to protect her. I wanted to kiss her lips and hope she woke up, like the prince does in that muggle fairy tale. I just wanted to fix her of whatever she was going through. I would lay down my life for her." Albus said, looking at his feet.

"Wow, Al, that's deep." I said "I didn't think you were capable of it…"

"Oh shut up Rose. Now can you give me advice?"

"Don't ask me for advice. Hello, still a lip virgin." I moved my index finger in a circular motion around my lips.

"Is that your fancy way of saying you've never been kissed?" Al asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Well done Albus!" I said sarcastically "you get a gold star."

"Ha ha. Funny. Well if you're that bad at giving relationship advice then I guess I'll ask Oliver… "

"You do that" I said, rubbing my eyes "In the meantime, I'm going to go up to bed, It's been a long day and I desperately want a shower."

"Tell Jade to lay off Ella for me." He called after me and I wheeled around… _how did he know?_ I thought. "I'm just joking Rose." He laughed, before walking off in the opposite direction. Phew, major bullet dodged there. I don't think I can handle two people being in love with the same person. I have to give Jade advice, and I also have to give Albus advice because he's my cousin. Ah life, what will you throw at me next?

* * *

"When did you say Ella was getting out again?" Mae asked a week later as we sat in the Gryffindor common room eating chocolate frogs.

"Madame Pomfrey says that she should be out in a few days, providing that her cut heals quickly enough." Rio responded, not looking up from the book on healing that she was pouring over for her entrance exam to St Mungos which would take place in November. "The knife that she used was enchanted to stop the wound congealing or healing. Madame Pomfrey had to use a hell of a lot of charms to break it."

"Where'd she get it from?" Mae wondered aloud through a mouthful of chocolate.

"Beats me" I shrugged, looking over at Jade, who was staring into the fireplace absent mindedly. "You okay Jade?"

"Yeah" Jade said, jerking out of a daze "yeah, I'm fine"

"You haven't really spoken much since Ella..." I trailed off.

"I just hope she recovers." she said quickly before standing up and storming up to the girls dormitories.

I sighed and got up to follow her. I knew exactly why Jade was silent and withdrawn. She was so afraid for Ella.

"Jade, hey, Ella's going to be fine" I said, walking through the doors to the dorm, where Jade was sitting on her bed, wringing her hands.

"I was so scared Rose." Jade whimpered, looking up at me with wide, tear filled eyes. "I was so scared that she was going to die."

"So was I… but you heard Madame Pomfrey, Ella will make a full recovery eventually." I reassured "Why're you so upset?"

"How am I supposed to tell her how I feel about her now? She tried to kill herself Rose and If I tell her that I'm in love with her, that will push her over the edge. I know it." Jade said, the tears spilling from her eyes and cascading down he cheeks. "I can't tell her Rose, I just can't."

"You can" I insisted "I reckon a little love is all she need right now."

"But you, Rio and Mae all love her too _as a friend_ but I'm _in_ love with her, romantically, she doesn't need this, not now, not ever!"

"Jade, I know how you feel." I started, thinking about my situation with Scorpius.

"No, you don't know how this feels! You don't know how it feels to be the only openly lesbian at this entire school. You don't know how it feels to have feelings for your best friend. You don't know how it feels to love someone but you can't act on it!" Jade screamed, pointing an accusing finger at me.

"That's where you're wrong" I said calmly "I do know how it feels to love someone but not being able to act on it."

"How could you though? You've never had a relationship." She said

"It doesn't meant that I haven't crushed on someone Jade. In fact I'm crushing on someone right now." I admitted

"Rose, I love you too, but now isn't the best time."

"Not you, you twat! Scorpius."

"Malfoy?" Jade said disbelievingly

"Yes, shout it to the heavens if you must, I'm in love with Scorpius Malfoy." I said dramatically.

"But… he's the biggest git this world houses." Jade said, sitting back down on her bed.

"Not when you get to know him. He's actually really sweet…"

"Uh…. No he's not."

"Well okay, he's not sweet. But he's not who he really is on the outside, he's quite the gentleman actually."

"Rose…. Go to bed, maybe you'll have slept off some of the crazy by morning."

"You can't help who you fall for" I said, shrugging my shoulders "I can't help falling for Scorpius, just like you can't help falling for Ella."

"But Ella is actually _nice_ " Jade protested.

"And so is Scorpius once you get to know him." I insisted exasperatedly.

"Whatever you say Rosie, whatever you say."

I sighed as I flopped back onto my bed, thinking about nothing but the events of the past few days. Ella's self-harming incident, Albus speaking to me about thinking he was in love with Ella, Jade's predicament about telling Ella how she felt and most of all, my predicament with Scorpius.


	9. Stand

 

"This is going to be so goddamn awkward Rose!" Jade hissed in my ear as we walked to the hospital wing to collect Ella.

"Well go back to the dorm if you must then… but I'm going to offer Ella my support" I said indignantly. I heard Jade mumble something about 'not meaning that she wanted to leave' "Well then stop complaining! Why do you think it'll be awkward anyway?"

"Because she poured out her whole heart to her family in front of us…. She tried to kill herself and we found her." Jade said quickly as we turned the corner into the floor that the Hospital Wing resided on.

"All the reasons to help her recover" I said "We're her friends Jade! She needs to know that she can count on us."

"But Rose-" Jade protested and I stopped walking and sighed exasperatedly.

"Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you're overwhelmed by the need to kiss her?" I said, putting my hands on my hips.

"No!" Jade exclaimed. I raised an eyebrow at her and she crumpled "Maybe….Alright yes."

"Well just control your hormones until Ella's all better again… then I will give my permission to kiss her" I said, starting to walk again.

"What makes you think I need your permission?" Jade asked

"Jade, I've known her since I was a minute old! I'm practically her sister! That's why you need my permission." I said, raising my voice slightly.

"And remind me why _I_ was the one you chose to come with you to get Ella, you could've chosen Rio or Mae." Jade asked, hurrying after me.

"Because Mae and I don't know each other that well, and Rio is still emotionally scarred." I said

"And I'm not?" Jade said "I never asked to see anyone self-harm, much less a girl that I love!" she whispered the last part.

"Oh Jade get over yourself!" I exclaimed "stop acting like you're the only one affected by this shitty situation that we're all in. If anything, you and I are the _least_ affected, we only found her. Imagine how traumatic this will be for her family."

Jade took a step back and looked at the ground "Shit sorry," she said, scuffing her shoes against the ground.

"Sorry" I apologised quickly "That was out of line… I'm a little stressed out, what with all the work we're getting"

"It's okay" Jade muttered "You're right though, I'm overreacting"

I smiled at her. "Let's go get Ella then, shall we?"

Jade nodded hesitantly as we both continued walking towards the Hospital wing. I'd noticed a whole heap of changes in Jade since the incident with Ella. She was very quiet, she hardly ate, (which was quite worrying seeing as she normally ate everything in sight) she didn't do her work in class and didn't turn in her homework. The way I saw it was that she was either completely lovesick and worried for Ella, or she had some disease. I was leaning towards the former.

As we walked through the doors to the hospital wing, I realised that Jade was right, this was going to be so goddamn freaking awkward. I didn't even know what I was going to say. Despite knowing her for all of seventeen years, I knew I couldn't talk to her about this… this was her burden to bear, and she didn't need me nosing around. But on the other hand, my devil side was telling me to talk to her about it, to tell her how we felt when we heard her confess her feelings to her family.

"Ah, Miss Marks, Miss Weasley, you've come for Miss Longbottom I assume?" Madame Pomfrey said as we walked up to her office.

"Yeah," I said "McGonagall told me she was getting out today."

"You were informed correctly." Madame Pomfrey said "She's in the bathroom, I'll tell her that you're here." And seeing the furtive glance that Jade and I shot at each other, she added "Don't worry, there's nothing in there she can hurt herself with. I've put charms on everything that she could use so that it won't hurt her if she tries." And with that she bustled off to get Ella.

"That's a hell of a lot of things." Jade whispered to me. "How long d'you reckon it took her to get all of that charmed up?"

When I stopped and thought about it I realised that there were more things in a bathroom that you could hurt or even kill yourself with than there were in Hogwarts… Razors, Any kind of pill, an overdose of skele-grow would have you transferred to St. Mungos, and then there was all that water, the shower, the bath and the tap it would've been so easy for Ella to drown herself. I hoped she'd thought of the water.

It appeared that she had, as she came bustling back into view with Ella trailing behind her. I had never seen Ella look worse, not even when her dog died back in third year (she'd been so goddamn attached to that animal) Her normally wavy, bouncing browny-blonde hair hung lank and dull around her face, her eyes were bloodshot and the circles underneath her eyes from lack of sleep made her look deranged. She wore a long sleeved top which I knew covered the bandages and scars of her self-harm. Her cheeks were sunken and she'd lost a fair few bit of wait, making even the tight fitting top look loose on her.

"Ella." I found myself saying sympathetically, walking forward to embrace her, despite the fact that she looked like death at the moment. "We've missed you."

Ella stayed stiff in my arms as I tried to hug her, she made no attempt to return the gesture of friendship.

"Here, let me take this." I said, taking her bag from her shoulder, she didn't resist. I slug it over my shoulder as Madame Pomfrey instructed Jade on what medications she had to take, and the charm to make sure they didn't work when Jade had them stashed away so if Ella managed to get her hands on them, she wouldn't try to overdose.

That was when I realised. Ella had changed. She was no longer the bubbly person that I had known all of my life. She'd turned suicidal, and it was now my job to break her out of it.

* * *

"Ella, you have to eat something."

"Not hungry." She mumbled back, turning her head away from the piece of toast that Jade was offering her.

"Ella, you haven't eaten in three days…" Rio said worriedly.

"Not hungry" Ella repeated.

"Ella, if you don't eat this toast I'm going to have to force it down your throat," Jade threatened, Ella just looked away. "You have three seconds." Jade warned. Ella glared at her and took the toast from her hand, taking the tiniest nibble from the crust.

"I'm watching you Ella." I said, "You'd better eat that whole piece." Ella just looked back at her toast and took a slightly bigger bite than before. I gave Jade a glance that said _we need to talk to her_. Jade nodded slightly back, agreeing with me.

It was as if the Ella that we'd found in the bathroom wasn't my best friend anymore and I missed the old Ella like I'd miss my heart if it was taken from me, and I needed another problem dumped on my shoulders like a hole in the head. If Ella could recover, and go back to how she was before this self-harm thing started it would be an immense relief for me and her family as well.

I watched Ella out of the corner of my eye as she slowly ate the piece of toast, bite by bite. _Well, at least she's eating_ I thought, partially satisfied, although I would be fully satisfied if Ella actually slept at night, and attempted to try to go back to her normal self. It was time to put a stop to this, the question was, how?

The bell rang and I stood up and realised what subject was next. Muggle studies… with Malfoy… _fuck!_

* * *

Albus hadn't seen Ella since the day she'd been taken to the hospital wing, well not that I was aware of anyway, but when Jade, Ella and I walked into Muggle Studies and he saw Ella, I think he just about had a heart attack. I could only feel sorry for him as Ella sat down wordlessly beside him, pulling her sleeves over her palms nervously… not that it was news to anyone. Gossip spreads like feindfyre at Hogwarts, and just about _everyone_ knew that Ella Longbottom had a self-harm problem. Only those closest to her knew the extent of the issue.

I walked over to Scorpius, who had his head down on the desk and was gripping his knees so hard that his knuckles had turned white. _Yes_ , I thought, _a civil conversation for once! He's off his pills._ Not that I revel in his pain or anything, I'm not a sadist, I just really didn't need him making stupid remarks right now.

"Malfoy" I said curtly, sitting down next to him.

"Weasley" he grunted, sitting up "I heard about your friend, is she alright?"

"She'll be fine." I replied, finding it incredibly hard to notice the fact that his eyes were a perfect sea blue, like his mothers.

"We still on for tutoring tonight?" Malfoy asked. "You didn't show up for the last one."

I felt a monster in my chest raise its head and roar. I suddenly felt dizzy as a rush of adrenaline went to my brain.

"Well you were too busy with your girlfriend, I thought I might leave you two alone." I said hotly, getting out my exercise book and a quill.

"Who? Carla? Weasley, she's not my girlfriend…" Malfoy said, massaging his temples.

"What is she then, your snog buddy?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Well… yeah." Malfoy said irritably "Look, Weasley I really don't need this right now, can we leave it for tonight, when I've actually got some pain relief?" He muttered the last sentence so that only I could hear it.

"Fine." I said angrily as Professor Simona walked into the classroom, carrying a stack of books that threatened to topple over because of the height of it. Even Professor Simona was shocked at the sight of Ella, I could see her eyes widen in shock as she turned around to face the class, her trademark smile in place.

"A-Alright class." She said, stumbling over her words and trying to avert her eyes from the sad little girl at the back of the room. "Today we will be working with muggle History, now, what comes to your mind when I say muggle history, just yell it out." She turned around and readied herself with a piece of chalk at the board.

"Old." Yelled Daniel Thomas

"Ancient Civilisations." Said Carla Mace

"Can anyone tell me what are some examples of Ancient Civilisations?" Professor Simona asked. My hand shot up.

"Yes Rose." She said in a resigned type of voice.

"Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome." I said quickly

"Correctamundo… which is a word I've always wanted to say and probably never will again." She said, turning around to write my suggestions on the board, earning a bit of a giggle from some Hufflepuffs.

"Anything else"

"Oh!" Albus yelled out, much to the surprise of me and the rest of the class "What's that ship called… the titanium or something?"

"The Titanic!" said Professor Simona, writing it in big letters on the board "Well done Albus, ten points to Gryffindor."

"SpearShakers" Jade called. I banged my head on the desk while laughing uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry?" said Professor Simona, evidently confused.

"She means Shakespeare, Professor." I giggled.

"Ah, of course, Shakespeare." As she turned to write it on the board I looked around at Jade and rolled my eyes. She gave me a shrug that said _what? I didn't know!_ I Shook my head and turned my attention back to the board.

"Now, you've only given me examples of things that happened hundreds and thousands of years ago, and were significant events in muggle society… in truth, History is anything that happened in the past. For example… if a muggle was stabbed to death on a street corner yesterday, then that would be history, that sentence I just said is history. Do you get where I'm coming from?"

There was a chorus of "Yes" from around the classroom.

"Great, now, we won't just be studying the muggle version of these events, because that puts even _me_ to sleep, but the _wizard involvement_ in these events, which is infinitely better." Professor Simona said, to various murmurs of agreement. "Now, if you'll divide into your pairs and work on the tasks on the board, all the answers are in the textbook, I got them brand new from flourish and blotts this morning. Mr Potter, Miss uh Marks, could you please hand out the textbooks?" I saw her eyes flicker over Ella and land on Jade as she changed her mind in mid-sentence, I couldn't help but love her at the moment, she'd gone out of her way to make sure that no attention whatsoever was on Ella, and It was working, everyone had seen all they needed to and were leaving Ella alone.

"Weasley?" Malfoy asked "Do you reckon I could copy your notes tonight? My head feels like it's about to split open."

An automatic _no_ was on the tip of my tongue, when I realised something, I couldn't make that no come out of my mouth, no matter how hard I tried.

"Yes." I said, disgusted at how the word sounded in my mouth.

"Thanks Weasley." Malfoy said "You're actually some kind of decent."

 _Thanks Scorpius_ I said to myself _Thanks._

* * *

I guess we were lucky that Muggle studies was the last lesson of the day, because after that, Ella just about cracked.

She ran from the great hall crying hysterically at no notice whatsoever.

"Shit." I said, jumping up and running after her, Rio, Jade and Mae in my wake. I could hear her sobs from a floor down, and that was even over our own pounding footsteps.

We chased her all the way up to Gryffindor tower, where she had collapsed outside the portrait hole, unable to give the password to the fat lady.

"Come on Ella." I said softly, lifting her up from under the arms while she shook with sobs. "Let's go up into the dorm."

I found that I could lift her quite easily if I carried her like a baby, she'd lost so much weight in the last few weeks. Jade gave the password to the fat lady and we entered the common room. It was blissfully empty, so we were able to get Ella up the stairs and into the dormitory without any trouble.

"Ella, talk to us." Jade said, as I put her down on her bed. "Please." She added desperately.

"I-I-I'm s-so s-sorry." She sobbed incoherently "I'm s-sorry for m-making you w-worry a-and I'm s-sorry for t-trying to k-kill myself."

"Oh Ella," I said, sitting down next to her and putting my arms around her in a hug. "It's no you who should be sorry, it's us. If we'd realised this sooner, it may not have got to this point."

"I-It's not your fault Rose… I did it to myself." Ella said, sobbing into my shoulder.

"Ella, I know I shouldn't ask, and you are no means inclined to answer, but why did you do it? I'm sorry, but my sister killed herself and we don't know why, so I'd really like it if you could tell me, but you don't need to." Rio said tentatively.

"No, it's okay Ree, you deserve to know. You _all_ deserve to know. You're the ones that have supported me through this, and I'd feel bad if I didn't tell you."

"You don't have to do this Ella." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I want to; I owe it to you all." Ella replied, wiping her eyes.

"Alright then." I said softly, sitting back against her headboard. "Tell."

"Well… I felt that my family didn't love me anymore, that I didn't have a purpose there, and I thought that if I killed myself then maybe I'd go to a better, loving family."

"But your family _does_ love you!" Mae exclaimed

"I know that now." Ella said "But that's not it… mostly I felt guilty about the argument that Jade and I had after the first Quidditch practise. Jade please don't cry, it's not your fault." Ella said as Jade opened her mouth in shock "What I called you," Ella said, shaking her head "It just ate me up every day, even when we'd forgiven each other, I was having a shower after Quidditch, and I saw the razor and I…" she trailed off, sobbing. I put an arm around her shoulders

"You don't have to go on if you don't want to."

Ella shook her head and took a deep breath. "I cut myself, when the blood ran out, it felt as if the pain ran out with it, and before I knew it, this was my form of pain relief."

"Ella." Jade breathed, tears in her eyes. "No matter how you put it, this sounds like it was my fault."

"No!" Ella insisted "It's not what you said to me, it's what I said to you. It was horrible, it was stupid, and I'll never forgive myself for it."

"Ella, please, forgive yourself." Jade said, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Please."

"I-I can't." Ella said.

"Yes, you can." I said "You have the power to face your demons, I know you do, just let all of the guilt from that moment go. Come on."

Ella closed her eyes, and took a few steadying breaths. When she opened them again, her eyes were no longer clouded and sad, but had some of their old spark back in there, and I knew that she had let it go.

"You have no idea how much I love you guys." Ella said, cracking the first smile I'd seen on her face since before the incident. "I don't know what I'd do without you."


	10. I Kissed A Girl

Walking to tutoring that night, I felt light and strangely elated. Which I shouldn't have seeing as I still had a mountain of homework weighing me down back in my dormitory. But the fact that Ella had spoken to us, faced her demons and seemed genuinely happy again was enough to make anyone feel eternally better. Although I'll never forget finding her lying in the bathroom with her wrists slit. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Then there were these weird love triangles that were everywhere. Albus, Jade and Ella were one, although only the feelings between Albus and Ella were mutual. Then there was Carla, Scorpius and I, if you can call it a love triangle… this is the one where Carla and I both love Scorpius… but he loves neither of us. Thinking about it, it kind of makes sense in a horrifying sort of way.

I just couldn't believe out of all the guys in Hogwarts, I had to fall for Scorpius Fucking Malfoy. Why couldn't I fall for someone nice, like Daniel Thomas, or Oliver Wood? Someone that I'd known beforehand and were friends with… but a few sessions of tutoring and Scorpius has me falling in love with him. Did he put something in my drink? Why would a Weasley, especially _Rose_ Weasley fall in love with a Malfoy? A sly voice rose to the surface of my thoughts.

" _You can't help who you love, Hugo_ " It was my mother's voice, giving words of advice to Hugo, when he'd come out as gay the previous year. My brother being gay was one of the other reasons why I had no problems with Jade. Hugo was still yet to find a boyfriend, but he's only fifteen, he'll get there. My mother's words gave me courage to pursue Scorpius. At least if it's a love potion then it'll wear off in a few days and I'll know if I really loved him at all.

"You're late again Weasley." Malfoy said from our usual spot by the window as I walked into the library.

"Only by thirty seconds Malfoy." I hissed, "Since when have you been punctual?"

"Calm down Weasley, I'm not going to be a dickhead tonight." Malfoy said, reaching carelessly into his bag and pulling out his textbook and exercise book.

"Oh yeah," I huffed, sitting down opposite him, "How do I know that?"

"Because I used a pain muffling charm instead of my medication, I got thoroughly sick of making everyone pissed off and not knowing why later." Malfoy said.

"Pain muffling charm," I said, confused "But that's fourth year Healer stuff? Where'd you learn that?"

"Funnily enough, I found it in a book that someone left here, I've had it for a while now. It's called _So You Want to be a Healer_." He reached into his bag "Rio Blanche is your friend right?"

"Yeah" I said slowly.

"Can you give this to her?" Malfoy said, passing the book over the table to me, and sure enough, I recognised it immediately as the one that Rio had been studying for her Healer entrance exam.

"Thanks Malfoy." I said, smiling "Who would've thought you were any kind of decent."

"Thanks Weasley." Malfoy smirked, flicking through his textbook and opening it at a page on History. "Can we do History tonight? I think I'm almost there with Maths. I didn't get a word that Professor Simona said during class of this though." He jerked his thumb at the book

"Sure," I said "I have to warn you that it's pretty boring though."

"I like History." Malfoy said simply, writing the heading _Wizarding Involvement in World War One_ at the top of his page.

"Okay, so what don't you get?" I asked, I hadn't considered History as a subject that needed a tutor, seeing as it is weaved through nearly every book you'll ever open.

"I don't get how wizards managed to go undercover in the massive wars that the muggles had. How the hell did they not use their wands?" I pointed lazily to another paragraph on the subject that I'd read in class.

"They transfigured each other's wands to look like guns." I said, pointing at diagram 1.23 which showed a Wand turning into a gun.

"What's a gun?" Malfoy asked, with the cluelessness that only a pure blood wizard could have.

"You shoot people with it… like bullets. It's kind of painful."

"So it's like the cruciatus curse?" Malfoy said bluntly.

"No Malfoy!" I laughed, wondering how to explain this to him. "Okay, Imagine you pull a trigger and a little bit of metal flies out of the end at lightning speed and pretty much goes through whatever part of you it hits. Painful, but not cruciatus curse painful." I explained, making elaborate gestures with my hands to help explain myself.

"Idiots, wands are so much easier!" Malfoy said as he started to write the definition of a gun.

"Muggles don't use wands Malfoy!" I said, just about ready to hit him.

"I know Weasley, I know! Calm your farm." Malfoy said in a joking tone.

"You know," I said thoughtfully "I think I like you better when you're not on your meds or in a world of pain."

"Odd," said Malfoy with a smile "So do most people."

"I never would've known that you were actually _nice_." I laughed.

"You think I'm nice?" Malfoy said, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Well… yeah." I said, looking at the table.

"Weasley, that's got to be the nicest thing that anyone's ever said to me… ever." Malfoy said, a half smile on his face as he looked at me with wide eyes filled with emotion and I could tell that he was genuine.

"What about Carla Mace?" I mumbled, trying to cover up my embarrassment.

"Are you joking? All I get is " _fuck me harder Malfoy."_ " He said, looking repulsed. I snorted with laughter.

"That little whore." I joked before realising that I was sharing a joke with Malfoy. Yes, I was crushing on him, but I wasn't sure if that was a love potion or not yet. Well, maybe if it was a love potion we could stay friends. "Is that really the nicest thing someone's ever said to you?"

Malfoy nodded before asking something that I never thought he'd ask me. "D'you reckon we could drop the whole last name thing?"

I smiled, seeing an ideal opportunity to pull his strings, I got up and packed away my things and Malfoy's expression fell. "Oh, I'm sorry, what's your name again?" I asked.

"Shut up Rose." Malfoy said as I walked away.

"Goodnight Scorpius." I replied, walking out of the library, feeling even more elated than I had when I'd walked in just an hour ago.

* * *

"Rose, I need to talk to you." Jade said after Lunch the next day as we headed up to the common room for our free period.

"Okay." I said, wonder what it could be this time, seeing as the last time she'd asked to talk to me in in private, she'd come out of the closet. Which reminds me that Rio still owes me six galleons over that, must remember to talk to her once Jade decides to get her act together and a) get with Ella or b) get with someone else, I'm still bound to secrecy about her sexual orientation. I followed Jade up to our room, which thankfully was empty and didn't lead to any awkward conversations as to why we either walked in and walked out again, or asked the occupants to leave.

"What is it now?" I asked her, laying back on my bed and loosening my tie.

"I've thought about it a lot…" Jade said, mimicking my actions onto her own bed "and I want to tell Ella how I feel, but seeing as you're no good in helping me, I'm going to get a second opinion."

"Gee thanks." I muttered "After all I've done for you Jade."

"Oh shut up you haven't got the first clue on how to ask someone out." Jade teased. I had to admit, she had a point.

"Whatever." I said, making a face at her. "Who's the second opinion?"

"Rio," Jade said simply "She seems to be awfully secretive about where she went on that Hogsmeade weekend a few weeks ago."

"You do realise that this means coming out to her?" I said seriously.

"Yeah, and you'll get your six galleons." She said with a smile.

"I'm suddenly no longer against this!" I exclaimed. "I'll go grab her shall I?"

"Grab who?" said Rio, walking into the room. "Don't worry, all I heard was _no longer against this, I'll go grab her shall I?"_ Rio said as she saw Jade and I exchange one of those looks that screamed _what if she heard?_

"We're grabbing you." I said, catching hold of her wrist as she walked past my bed and dumped her stuff on her own. "Go on Jade, tell her. I want my money."

"God Rose, for the last time I didn't take the galleon on your bedside table!" Rio insisted.

"Oh, this isn't about that. I know Hugo tinker tailor spied his way in here and managed to get a hold of it. Tell her Jade."

"What's Jade telling me?" Rio asked, confused.

"Shut up and let her tell you." I said, grinning at Jade. She looked nervously back at me and I mouthed the word _courage_ at her.

"Uh… well I don't know how to phrase this, so I'm just going to say the same thing that I told Rose and come straight out with it… I'm lesbian." Rio was silent.

"Say something will you?" Jade begged

"You couldn't have waited an extra year to come out could you? Now I owe this one six galleons!" she jerked her finger at me.

"Come on Ree, pay up!" I said, holding out my hand greedily for my money. "Now"

"I haven't got six galleons!" Rio exclaimed, "Just wait until Christmas once I get some cash and I'll pay up."

"And where did all your money go Ree? I know for a fact that your parents got you a hundred galleons for your birthday." Jade said smugly.

"I spent them." Rio said quickly, "At the last Hogsmeade weekend."

"Which brings me to why I came out to you," Jade said, "I need to know how to ask someone out and Rose has been zero help on that topic. We know that you went out with someone on the last Hogsmeade weekend, don't deny it." Jade said as Rio opened her mouth in protest. "So, can I get a little advice?"

"Sorry Jade," Rio said apologetically "He asked me out, I've got no idea what to do. But the only advice I can give you is to go up and tell her how you feel. That's what Oliver did with me." Rio said.

" _Oliver!_ " I yelled " _Oliver Wood?_ You're dating _Oliver Wood?_ "

"Shut up Rose, we don't want to go public with our relationship yet." Rio snapped.

"I can't wait to see Al's reaction." I laughed "He'll be starkers that Ollie got a girlfriend before he did."

"So, just tell her." Rio said, changing the subject, shooting me a glare as I giggled away.

"Damn you straight people, why is it always the same advice?" Jade muttered.

"Because it's the _right_ advice" I said.

"Whatever you say" Jade said.

"Well," said Rio, standing up from where she'd sat down on her bed, "I'm off to find six galleons to give Rose."

"Don't take it from the other students!" I reprimanded as she reached the door and pulled it open.

"Don't worry, I've got a little dirt on Daniel, I'll wiggle it off him." Rio grinned, opening the door and stepping into the stairwell. "Just a quick question though, who is it, that you want to ask out?"

"Ella," Jade said, blushing furiously and looking down at her bedspread "Ella Longbottom."

* * *

Anyone who spoke to me during Lunch on Saturday would think that I'd just won a thousand galleons. In truth, I was just having a really good week. What, with Ella coming clean about her self-harming reasons, Jade coming out to Rio, which lightened the load on my shoulders considerably and Scorpius boycotting his pills for a pain muffling charm, I was in a very good mood indeed. It felt like more than half of the burden on my shoulders had been lifted. Yes, I was in a very good mood indeed. Even more so because of the fact that I'd been able to find a way to help Jade tell Ella that she liked her. The answer lay in two Hufflepuff Girls in our year, Carina and Leah, who had been together since they were in fourth year. I'd remembered about the scandal that they'd caused when they'd come out to the whole school, being the first two actively homosexual students at Hogwarts in over one hundred years. They had been the ones who inspired Hugo to come out, of course they didn't know that until about five minutes ago when I'd requested for their help.

"Jade!" I called, as I saw her and Rio talking in hushed voices at the end of the Gryffindor table.

"Hey Rose," she said, her voice missing its usual spark "You look happy."

"That's because I've found a way for you to tell Ella that you like her." I said in a sing-song voice.

"You have?" She said, perking up instantly, "Yeah! Come with me and you'll see."

"Okay…" Jade said, uncertainly. "Should I be scared?"

"No," I said cheerfully, "They're really very nice."

"Who?" Jade asked

"You'll see." I said. I was enjoying keeping her hanging, because I knew that if she knew what I had in store for her she'd refuse to come and talk to Carina and Leah. I lead her out of the hall and up the marble staircase, Carina and Leah had mentioned going up to the owlery earlier so I was hoping to catch them on their way back down and ask them to help Jade.

It appeared that luck was very much on my side, as when we were half way to the owlery, we bumped into none other than said Hufflepuff girls.

"Hey, Carina, Leah." I said, pretending to act shocked at bumping into them again so soon.

"Hi Rose." Carina said cheerfully, "Is this Jade?"

"Yeah," I said, glancing at Jade, who looked confused. So maybe I was wrong, not everyone knew about Carina and Leah. "Jade, this is Carina and her girlfriend Leah."

"Hi Jade." Leah said kindly "Rose told us that you wanted to talk to someone who plays for your team, well, we're here."

"Rose!" Jade said angrily "I thought we agreed you tell _no-one_ about this!"

"Oh shut up, you'll thank me later." I said, grabbing her shoulders as she tried to walk away.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Carina asked softly.

"Nothing, really, it's fine." Jade muttered, trying to turn away again.

"Jade if you don't tell them then I will." I warned. "You wanted advice and here it is."

"Fine," Jade snapped at me, before turning back to Carina and Leah "Um… I was wondering… how do I tell the girl that I like, that I like her?"

"Damn that question." Carina said "You have no idea how many closet lesbians or gays have asked us that."

"So you don't have an answer?" Jade said dejectedly

"Well, the answer we'll give has probably already been given to you multiple times." Leah said.

"The 'just tell her' answer?" Jade said in a resigned voice.

"Unfortunately, yes." said Carina and Jade's face fell.

"So there isn't any new advice you can give me? How did it happen for you guys?" Jade asked desperately.

"Well…" Leah started, blushing "Carina actually just kind of came up to me in the common room one night and said "Hey, I'm crazy about you" and kissed me, I hardly knew her beforehand, but she knew I was lesbian, and I knew that she was lesbian so we kind of just clicked, and when she kissed me, I knew that I was crazy about her too."

"Well aren't you two just the biggest non-conformists." Jade joked. "That actually seems like a better way to do it."

"Jade don't you dare." I said, "Ella… well you know what she's like, I think it'd be best if you just told her."

"But if I speak, I'll get my words mixed up, and stumble over them and that gives her more time to be embarrassed if she doesn't like me back." Jade jabbered. "I have to make it known to her sooner or later. So I'm going to do it sooner."

"Jade…" I said, but I knew that I couldn't stop her from kissing Ella straight up now that she had set her mind to it.

"Good for you Jade." Leah said as she and Carina wound their arms around each other's waists. "We hope you get your girl."

"Thank you for everything." Jade said as Leah and Carina walked away.

"You're welcome." Carina called back.

"Oh, and Rose, if you want to know what a lesbian make out session looks like, then keep looking for the next few seconds." Leah said, and before I'd even figured out what she'd said, she had pulled Carina in for a deep kiss. I had to admit, it was incredibly cute as I watched them smile against each other's lips.

"No making out in the corridors." I joked, flashing my head girl badge at them.

"Sorry ma'am." Carina said in a mock cockney accent and as the two of them walked away, I heard Leah whisper into her girlfriend's ear.

"I've wanted to do that for _ages_ "

* * *

Now that Jade had spoken to Carina and Leah and got the idea for kissing Ella straight up into her head, it was as if she was a ticking time bomb that would go off any second. I had no idea when she would make her move on Ella and as Saturday melted into Sunday with little sleep on my part, I began to think she might just leave it for a while. I didn't know why, because she'd been gearing herself up for this since about Wednesday when she'd come out to Rio, only to not do it. I guess since talking to Carina and Leah she had to think on it a little more. I mean, telling someone that you love them is big, but kissing someone to tell them that you love them is huge. I hoped Jade knew how big this was.

Seeing as nearly everyone left the homework that we'd acquired on Friday until the very last second on Sunday, the usual mad dash for the library was expected, and Scorpius and I decided that there would be too many people to do our tutoring session for that night, so having done all my work on Saturday night when I was awake stressing about Jade and Ella, I had the odd experience of having Sunday night off.

I lounged lazily in an armchair in the almost-empty common room, my eyelids drooping heavily as the warmth from the fire washed over me. This was a strange luxury for me, and for anyone else who had decided to do their work on Saturday. I could see Ella sitting at a table, writing a letter to someone, and a few other students scattered around the edges, all in varying states of exhaustion, most of the younger students who _weren't_ stressed out of their minds having gone to bed about an hour ago.

I watched Ella out of the corner of my eye. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt, like she always did nowadays, like she would have to do forever if she wanted to hide the scars. Which was the disadvantage of using an enchanted razor or knife, the scars never fade.

"Ella," I heard someone say and my head snapped around quickly to see Jade walking towards Ella… oh no, it was time, I could tell by the nervous look on Jade's face that she was scared shitless by what she was about to do.

"Hi Jade." Ella said, looking up from the novel of a letter she was writing. "What's up?"

Jade sat down and I bit my lip from across the room, I couldn't tell whether it would be awkward or not.

"Ella, there's a moment in your life when you think… "Oh, there you are, I've been looking for you forever," Jade said, placing her hand on Ella's, taking the quill out from between her fingers . "I had that moment with you Ella, when you got taken to the Hospital wing, I was so scared, scared that you would die. I love you Ella and I want to help you and be with you forever."

And with that, Jade leaned in and kissed Ella. It was hard to tell what type of kiss it was… It was kind of desperate on Jade's part… and non-existent on Ella's, so I'm guessing I was right in thinking that Ella didn't feel the same way about Jade. I've seen enough muggle movies to know that if someone, anyone kisses you and you feel the same way, you kiss them back. After several awkward moments while Jade kept her lips pressed to Ella's, Ella pushed Jade away.

"What the hell!" she yelled, picking up her quill and roll of parchment. "I think I'm going to sleep in with Ally and Meg tonight if you're going to try and _kiss_ me." Ella spat. "I should've guessed that you liked me back when I caught you checking me out after Quidditch."

"Ella, please." Jade whimpered as Ella stormed past her and up into the girls dormitories. Jade broke down, her face crumpling as she collapsed onto the ground, tears streaming down her face. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was at her side with my arm around her shoulders.

"Rose," Jade sobbed, "Rose… she rejected me."

"I know, I know, it's okay." I said softly, as she turned into my shoulder, still crying.

"It's not okay… don't even try and tell me that it's okay!" Jade sobbed, "I just poured my heart out to her, she rejected me and I've gone and _ruined_ our friendship, the one we've had since first year on the train."

"Friendships can be fixed." I said meekly.

"Yes, but my heart can't. She broke it Rose, and took half of it away with her."

"I'll talk to Ella, okay?" I said, "okay?"

"No," Jade said, "You'll just make it worse."

"Jade, this isn't something that you can just take lying down… you, or I need to talk to her."

"C-can you do it?" Jade said, trying to stifle her sobs. I smiled at her and stood up.

"Well, in a normal situation I'd go up to the guy and ask "It's because you're gay isn't it?" but I guess I have to ask Ella if she's straight…" I said, walking towards the staircase that lead up to the girls dormitories. I knew Ella wouldn't be in ours, but it didn't hurt to check.

It was a good thing I had, because just as I walked in, I saw Ella slip into the bathroom, a razor clutched in her hand.

"Oh no you don't!" I all but yelled at her, striding across the room and snatching the sharp object out of her hand. I took one look at it and tossed it out of the open window. "Ella, I thought we agreed, if you're depressed you talk to us, not talk to the razor, it's just going to hurt you while we'll listen."

"You have no idea what just happened, do you?" Ella snapped.

"Yes, I do, I saw the whole thing." I said, "That's actually what I came to you about."

"She _kissed_ me!" Ella exclaimed, wiping at her lips as if Jade's saliva was still there.

"And you just about threw her off the astronomy tower, which equals to how much you've hurt her." I said.

"No warning, she just came up and kissed me."

"Oh you had plenty of warning." I snapped "She was talking about how she'd been 'looking for you forever' even Albus could tell that she was about to kiss you."

"You expect me to think about those things?" Ella exclaimed.

"oh, and that brings me to my next order of business. You just had to drop her from a height of fifty feet didn't you… did letting her down gently ever occur to you?"

"Rose, you have to look at this from my point of view." Ella said desperately "Imagine that I came up and kissed you, with no warning, just a little speech beforehand. What would you do?" I opened my mouth to tell her that I would explain that I didn't play for her team, but stopped, because I'd probably lose it too.

"That's what I thought." Ella said.

"You have no idea how hard it is to be both yours and Jade's friend." I said, sitting down on my bed and running a hand through my hair. "It's so stressful!"

"Sorry, Rose." Ella said, sitting down beside me. "for scaring you with the razor like that."

"Don't apologise to me for that, go and apologise to Jade for breaking her heart…Yes, I'll tell her to apologise to you as well." I added as Ella opened her mouth to protest.

"I can't even think about her Rose." Ella said, burying her face in her hands. "Oh god you're right, I did push her off the astronomy tower didn't I. I have to apologise." She started to get up but I put a hand on her arm, feeling the puckered scars underneath her sleeve.

"I'm not sure she wants to talk to you right now, just give her tonight to sleep it off and you can talk in the morning."

"I don't feel comfortable sleeping in here." Ella mumbled, "you don't mind if I go to Ally Syme's dorm do you?"

"Not at all, I think it's best for you to be apart until _both_ of you cool down, I can't guarantee that you'll be totally civil about it even in the morning, your temper is so goddamn huge."

"It's true." Ella said, "I'm just going to go now."

She got up and began to walk towards the door, only to turn her head and say.

"Rose, you're amazing. I could _never_ take on as much as you have and still be myself. I'm so lucky to have you as a friend."

"You're welcome Ella."


	11. Cherish

"The Trojan Wars," said Professor Simona, writing the words in large letters on the blackboard and underlining it several times. "What's the first thing that comes to mind?"

"A wooden horse!" Lacey Cattermole yelled from the side of the room.

"War!" yelled Albus from his seat at the back.

"Trojans and Greeks" said Corey Finnigan

"Brad Pitt!" said Carla Mace, and as much as I hate that little whore, I couldn't help but laugh. Of course the first thing that came to _her_ mind would be Brad Pitt.

"Who's Brad Pitt?" Scorpius hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm sure to get compared to him later."

"He's a muggle actor." I said back, while trying to hold back laughter. "They made a film out of the Trojan wars called _Troy_ and he was the main character." Scorpius' reply was drowned out by laughter as Professor Simona explained to the rest of the class who Brad Pitt was.

"Great, I'm being compared to muggles now." Scorpius said through gritted teeth. I laughed. It was a little weird, having Scorpius not shooting insults at me and asking me for advice instead, although I must admit it did suit me well. It was nice not to have the person that I'd be working with for the rest of the year being a dick towards me.

"I don't understand why you don't break up with her?" I said, scribbling down the notes that Professor Simona had written on the board about the Trojan Wars.

"I don't want her to get mad." Scorpius mumbled. "She can be really scary when that happens."

"Well, I've never experienced that… and I'm not sure I want to." I said, with a small smile on my face. I wasn't sure why I was so happy. My friends were in some fucked up love triangle that wasn't really a love triangle anymore, which reminded me that I had to speak to both Jade and Ella soon, before anything else happened. I was glad that Jade hadn't blown up at Ella out of rage for being rejected, because that would've made it considerably harder for me to fix this debacle between them.

While Jade sat quietly next to Peter Veruca, copying down the notes from the board, her dark hair falling into her face, Ella seemed to be louder and more raucous than normal. It was almost as if she and Jade had swapped personalities. Ella was sitting next to Albus, like she normally did in Muggle studies these days, but was talking to Meg Munro and Ally Syme, two girls that Ella knew from her neighbourhood in London. I could see that Professor Simona was seriously puzzled as to why Ella was acting so out of her usual persona. She looked at me quizzically as if to ask _what's wrong with Ella?_

I shrugged. Why would I tell a teacher about Ella's, or _anyone's_ for that matter, romance problems?

I glanced over at Jade, who seemed to be avoiding looking at the class as a whole. She was still looking down, obviously, but was shaking softly. Then it dawned on me, she was crying. I couldn't believe I didn't notice that, she was supposed to be one of my best friends, and I didn't notice that she was crying. Through a gap in her hair I saw a tear roll down her cheek and splash on the paper. She wiped her eyes and went back to writing down her notes.

I was half consumed with a desire to ask Professor Simona if Jade and I could go to the bathroom so that we could talk and that I could comfort her. I wasn't going to let her sit there and cry!

Unfortunately, I had no choice but to let her sit there and cry, because there was no distractions in the lesson where I could slip over to her and talk. We just talked about the Trojan Wars the whole time, which was the longest we'd spent on any given topic as there was so much in the muggle curriculum which we needed to get through in one year.

I normally found everything about Muggle studies to be fascinating, but my mind was much too preoccupied today. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do or say to get Jade and Ella to at least talk to each other, let alone become friends again, and it didn't help that Scorpius was making me feel awful about being happy for getting me in a good mood.

It was an immense relief when the bell rang, it meant I could finally go to Jade and talk to her, to comfort her.

"Jade, bathroom, now" I hissed as I walked past her desk.

"I'll see you tonight for tutoring, Rose." Scorpius called after me.

"Yeah, see you then." I said with a genuine smile as I walked out of the room, Jade hot on my heels. Glancing around for Ella, I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the sixth floor corridor bathrooms. Once inside, I locked the main door behind us.

"What?" Jade asked softly, sitting on the edge of the sink.

"Ella?" I said, raising one eyebrow. Jade looked down, her hair falling back in her face. "Oh, Jade." I said sympathetically "I'm going to talk to her again today… alright? After I tutor Scorpius tonight."

"Wh-what did she say last night?" Jade asked, a slight tremor in her voice.

"Well…" I said, "She was shocked, a little overwhelmed and she felt guilty for reacting the way she did."

"Guilty?" Jade questioned.

"She tried to cut herself again last night." I admitted "I caught her just as she was slipping into the bathroom with a razor."

"Oh my god" Jade breathed, putting her face in her hands. "This is all my fault! I should never have kissed her. I should've listened to my gut and just talked it out, I shouldn't have gone right ahead and done that! It only worked for Carina and Leah because they both knew that they played for the same team. Rose, what am I going to do!" Jade rambled, becoming more and more worked up with every word she spoke.

"I don't know…" I said, biting my lip. Why does everyone always come to _me_ for relationship advice, I haven't even had my first kiss yet. "I don't think you should talk to her, leave that to me… I think that you should just leave her be for a bit. I'll let you know if she wants to talk."

Before I knew what was happening, Jade had engulfed me in a hug.

"Whoa, what brought this on?" I said, patting her back as she sobbed into my shoulder.

"Rose, I don't deserve a friend as amazing as you." She sobbed, "All you've done for me this year, it's so much and all I've done is come crying to you. Do you need any help with anything?"

"No," I lied, of course I needed help, I needed help to figure out what I was thinking about Scorpius and if it was a love potion or not. "This is what friends are for."

* * *

I should've been stressing, worried and nervous as I walked into the library that night, but I was happy. Why was I happy? This was not natural, maybe this really is a love potion.

"Hi." Scorpius said, as I made my way over to our usual tabled. "Where did you go after muggle studies? I saw you run into the bathroom with Marks…"

"It was nothing…" I mumbled, waving it off, "she just needed to talk about… something." I was thankful that he didn't ask what she needed to talk about. "Why, did you want to talk to me or something?"

"Well… yeah, I… uh broke up with Carla." He said, shrugging.

"Really, how'd that go?" I asked, sitting down and pulling out my textbook and opening to the section on the Trojan Wars.

"Surprisingly well actually… she told me that she'd been sleeping with three other guys behind my back so she said she was glad I'd broken up with her so she wouldn't have to keep it up."

"Ouch, that's tough." I said.

"I really don't care… it was just some stupid thing I did to give me an illusion that someone still cared about me." He said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"She was really sleeping with _three_ other guys behind your back?"

"Yeah, I've gotta say she did a _really_ good job of hiding it. I wouldn't have guessed otherwise." He laughed.

"Slut," I said, watching Scorpius turning to an empty page in his exercise book. "You really only went out with her so that you'd feel slightly loved?" I asked a little softer. Scorpius nodded.

"I could never land a girlfriend because of my pills. I'd just say whatever popped out of my mouth and I hurt anyone that I ever went on a date with." He said "Carla just sorta came up to me and just told me that I was hot and that she thought I was great in bed and I just went from there."

 _I bet he is great in bed_ I thought dreamily… _wait, what?_ _I didn't just think that_. I told myself firmly, _I did_ not _just think that!_

"So… you're single now?" I asked, before immediately wishing that I didn't. What was wrong with me!

"Yeah" Scorpius said, "Why? You interested?" he gave me a cheesy wink.

"No!" I exclaimed "I'm sorry Scorpius, but not in a million years. I know you've changed and all, but… no."

"I'd date you." He said shyly and my blood ran cold, he _wanted_ to date me… okay maybe I needed to sleep, I was obviously hearing things. "I'm just joking Rose, god the look on your face!" he laughed and my body was filled with a mixture of relief and disappointment. There had been a part, however small, of me that did want to date him.

"Let's start." I said, a little too hurriedly, "I don't want to be here all night. What do you need help with?"

"Maths again… she said that our test would be on everything and I'm not quite there with equations." He said, opening his exercise book and prepared to take notes. I flipped from the page about the Trojan wars to the section devoted to mathematics, which was a few chapters back. I talked Scorpius through the steps to solving the equation and once I was sure that he got it, pulled out my work that had been assigned to me that day, which, considering the fact that NEWTS was only seven months away was quite small. Well, it was small in comparison to what we'd normally get. Only a six foot long essay for Transfiguration, Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts and a few spells to master. Oh, and then there was that report for Muggle studies that nearly the whole class had forgotten about.

"Rose," Scorpius said about twenty minutes later when he'd finished doing the practise equations, "I've realised I never actually thanked you for helping me, even when I was on my pills."

"It's not a problem," I smiled, "besides, call me mad, but I've actually begun to like teaching you, when you listen and do the work of course."

"I guess that does make it easier!" he laughed, "and I'm sorry, for being so mean to you for all that time, even when I did mean it. I was dumb, I was proud and I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it." I grinned "I was just as much of a dick to you as you were to me so I guess we're even… I'm sorry too."

"Y'know I'm actually glad that Professor Simona made you come back and tutor me… If she hadn't then I never would've known that you were a sort of nice person." Scorpius said with a genuine smile.

"Ditto," I said, checking my watch to see that we had about thirty seconds left of the hour that we dedicated to Tutoring, "I hope all this pays off."

"So do I. My parents will kill me if it doesn't." he mumbled.

"Wait, I thought your parents didn't know?" I said, standing up from my seat and putting my books back into it."

"They found out." He mumbled again, even quieter this time, "That's why I had to get a tutor."

"Why did you ask me? You could've asked any number of girls and they'd swoon for you." I asked, furrowing my brow at him in a confused expression.

"Because you're the only one who I was sure would be capable of tutoring me… and the only one who would do it without wanting to get into my pants." He confessed. "That's a compliment…" he added hastily. I laughed and turned towards the door.

"Thanks Scorpius, that means a lot." I said.

"I'll see you this time next week yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah, same time same place." I confirmed, before walking out of the library doors. Of the two things that Scorpius thought about me was true, the other, false… well not entirely false, I wasn't at the 'wanting to get in his pants' stage yet… but I knew that I had fallen for him… hard.

* * *

"How'd you go?" I asked Rio as she walked back into the common room only an hour and a half after she'd left for her Healer entrance exam.

"Oh god, Rose, I _failed!_ " she exclaimed dramatically. "I couldn't remember _anything_ and the things I did remember were written down and explained crappily. I'm never going to be a Healer!"

"You're overreacting way too much." I said, punching her on the arm playfully, "You're just nervous and scared… I'm sure you've done _brilliantly_."

"I can get Abigail to take a peek at the records for you if you want." Ella piped up from where she was doing her homework. I had literally just been about to talk to her about this situation with Jade when Rio walked through the door.

"Thanks Ella, but I think I'll pass. I don't want to know how I've done until everyone else does." Rio said, wringing her hands together. "I've screwed that up so bad!"

"I think you're overreacting." Ella said simply, echoing my previous statement. "Abi was exactly like this when she got out of her exam and she passed with flying colours, and you're about fifteen times smarter than Abi."

Rio scoffed "Fifteen times dumber you mean! Ella you're forgetting that Abi was dux of her year… I'm nowhere near that, everyone knows that Rose has that in the bag."

"Never give up Rio." I said "Dux might seem like it belongs to me… but it probably belongs to someone else who you can whip it out from under their nose."

"Thanks Rose, but this really isn't helping." Rio said, glancing around the common room for Oliver. They were officially the new 'it' couple of Gryffindor house, having been caught kissing in an empty corridor by none other than Albus Potter yesterday, naturally forcing them to come out of the shadows with their relationship.

"Where's Oliver?" she asked, "I need a kiss right now."

I snorted as Ella stiffened in her seat. "You know you sound like such a slut when you say that."

"Oh shut up." Rio snapped, finally spotting Oliver sitting in a corner, talking in undertones with Albus and Daniel.

"I've got to admit, they're pretty cute. Despite the fact that I see Rio making out in the common room nearly every second…" I remarked, sitting down opposite Ella. "Which reminds me… you and Jade need to sort this thing out… you can't go on not speaking… and I know you miss her."

"Why can you _always_ read my thoughts?" Ella asked incredulously.

"Hey, don't act like you don't do it to me." I said indignantly, crossing my legs and pushing her playfully. "So… come up to the dorm, Jade wants to talk to you… she misses you as well."

"Alright," Ella said, standing up and starting to pack her things away. "Are you sure she wants to talk to me though?"

"Positive, she wants to be friends with you again. She's adamant that you're never going to want to go near her again." I said truthfully.

"Why would she think that?" Ella asked, shocked.

"Oh, gee, I dunno," I said as we started to climb the stairs, "might have something to do with the fact that you totally lost it when she kissed you."

"It's what anyone would've done." Ella muttered, "I can't help it if my temper sometimes gets the better of me."

"God you're impossible." I said exasperatedly as we reached the dorm. "Wait here, I'll just tell Jade that you want to talk." I said, stopping Ella before she could push open the door. Ella nodded in agreement. I stuck my head around the door to see Jade on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Jade?" I said tentatively, and she turned her head to look at me, acknowledging that I'd spoken. "Ella's here, she wants to talk to you." Jade sat up eagerly, which obviously conveyed to me that she wanted to speak to Ella. I turned back to Ella, who was staring into space with a dreamy smile plastered across her face.

"She'll see you." I said, feeling like one of those receptionists in a muggle movie saying " _the doctor will see you now"_ I pushed open the door and walked in, Ella at my side. We both sat down on my bed, opposite Jade, Ella looking at her hands which she had folded in her lap.

"Talk." I said, using my most commanding voice. Before Ella could even open her mouth Jade was half way through a sentence.

"Ella, I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for what I did. It was way out of line and I really shouldn't have done it. I can totally understand your reaction and I don't blame you one bit. You have every right to be mad and every right to never talk to me again. I'm so sorry! I should've thought about it before I did it. It just seemed like such a good idea at the time and now that I think on it, I realise that-"

"Jade, shut up!" Ella exclaimed and Jade fell silent, looking at her hands. "I accept your apology, but not without you accepting mine. The way I reacted was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken to you that way, it was out of line and downright rude. I should've let you down gently, not the way that I did. I am so, so, sorry and I really hope you can forgive me." Ella said sincerely. "And I also want you to know that your sexuality doesn't make any difference to our friendship."

Jade looked up, tears in her eyes and a small smile on her face, when she spoke, her voice was choked, "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"C'mere." Ella said, and if to prove that she didn't care about Jade's sexual orientation, she pulled her into a hug. Jade was shocked at first, but caved into it after a few seconds.

"I'm so sorry Ella." Jade muttered

"As am I," Ella responded "I really hope you find someone who deserves you, seeing as I obviously don't."

"So do I, you don't deserve me, and I really hope you find a guy that does." Jade said.

"I love it when you two make up," I said, clapping my hands together, "You have no idea how depressed I get when you fight."

"It affects everyone I think." Ella said, breaking off the hug. "We'll try not to fight, right Jade?"

"Right," Jade agreed.

"Now, both of you go and find Rio, she's sure to be making out with Oliver somewhere, but on the odd chance that she's not, I suggest that you encourage her that she did well on her healer exam, she's freaking out."

"Alright," Jade agreed, and I saw the old spark return to her eyes. "Let's go crash a make out session!" and with that, she and Ella scurried out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

~0~

"How're you going? Friendship mended?" I asked Ella as I came down into the common room about half an hour later.

"Yeah," Ella smiled, "Remind me why I have such an amazing best friend."

"I try," I said, "I'm just really glad that you and Jade are friends again, I didn't want something silly like this to break up our friendship. We've been friends for seven years straight, I didn't want it to stop,"

"Neither." Ella agreed, relaxing back in a chair by the fire. "Hey, she's already started telling me about this other girl that she likes… I told her not to kiss her spontaneously until she was sure that they play for the same team."

"Hey, Ella, can I talk to you for a second?" I heard Albus' voice say from behind me and I jumped about a foot in the air.

"Jesus, Al, you almost gave me a heart attack!" I exclaimed, holding my hand over my heart as I punched Albus quite forcefully in the arm.

"Ouch! Rose that hurt!" he said, rubbing the abused arm.

"I have no sympathy." I said, crossing my arms.

"I'd hate to be your husband." Albus said, glowering at me.

"Ew… Don't worry I'd hate to be your wife and you do realise that's incest don't you?" I remarked.

"Rose, oh my god It's a figure of speech!" Albus exclaimed. Our little fight was interrupted by Ella clearing her throat. We both looked at her.

"What did you want to tell me Albus?" Ella asked sweetly, giving me a slightly angry, slightly bemused look.

"Oh, yeah," Albus said, as if it had completely slipped his mind. "I just wanted to say, that I'm really glad that you're recovering, and if there's anything I can do, just name it." Albus said, smiling weakly.

"Thanks Albus." Ella said, smiling genuinely. "What brought this on?" and that was when I realised… oh shit, not now! This is possibly the worst timing in the world.

"Uh…" Albus said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Okay, I'm not going to lie to you or hide it any longer. I've got feelings for you. Romantic feelings, and I just wanted you to know that if you ever feel like no one loves you that I do… and I just really want you to be happy."

Ella didn't say anything; she seemed to be in shock. She stood there in front of Albus with her mouth open slightly, gaping at him.

"Of course, I realise if you don't want to be with – mmm" Albus was cut off suddenly by Ella's lips being mashed against his. Despite the fact that this was probably the worst timing for something like this to happen, I felt genuinely happy for Albus and Ella… they'd finally found each other after years of searching… well, years of searching for Albus anyway.

Every eye in the common room was trained on them now, most of Gryffindor house was watching the way that Albus wrapped his arms around Ella's waist and drew her in close, the way that she tangled her fingers in his hair as they full on made out in the middle of the common room.

"How do you two keep going like that?" I said, walking up to them and waving my hand in Ella's face once I'd figured that the house had had enough of watching them make out. "Do you breathe out of your ears? Hello?"

Ella and Albus broke apart slowly, both of them licking their lips and blushing furiously.

"Of course I want to be with you." Ella said, happy tears welling in her eyes and before I could drag Ella off or hit Albus, their lips were locked in another kiss.


	12. Kiss

"Well, seeing as you're done making out in the middle of the common room with your new boyfriend, let's go and finish the mountains of homework we've been set." I said to Ella at least an hour later. She and Albus had spent the last hour talking in undertones in a corner, with an occasional kiss here and there.

"Sorry Rose," Ella apologised, "I just can't believe Albus is my _boyfriend_ now. It hardly seems real."

"Yay, three lovesick friends," I said sarcastically, "I'm joking Ella, I'm really happy for you and Albus… but can you keep the snogging for the bedroom, we shouldn't set a bad example for the first years."

"I suppose." Ella said reluctantly as we reached our dormitory, thoroughly un motivated for the amount of homework I had to start and finish by the end of the week. We sat down on our respective beds and pulled out rolls of parchment, textbooks and our homework diaries.

"So," I said, leaning forward and biting my lip, "What was it like?"

"It was amazing." Ella breathed, "It was everything I ever could've wished for, he is _amazing,_ Rose."

"Ugh," I said, making a disgusted face at her. "You do realise that this is my cousin that you're eating the face of."

"I can't help it if he's a great snogger." Ella said indignantly.

"Yeah, well I guess you've been waiting for this moment since third year or so." I said, shrugging and writing the title of my transfiguration essay at the top of the parchment. "Just, don't go and have sex or anything… that's too much for my gag reflex." I shuddered.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Rose," said Rio, as she and Jade walked into the dorm and pulled out their work as well, "they've only just got together."

"Did you have fun snogging Oliver's face off in a deserted corridor?" I said, grinning at her with an immature look on my face.

"I was until Miss Marks and Miss Longbottom interrupted me." She said, glaring at Ella and Jade in turn. Ella smiled teasingly while Jade looked apologetic.

"You're a pest you know that Rose?" Rio said, starting to scribble away at some of her homework. "Why am I even friends with you lot?"

"You love us." I teased after a moment's hesitation, after I realised that Ella was in her fantasy land and Jade was looking at her lap again. Damn, of course she'd seen Ella and Albus kiss. How would she feel about this?

As if she was answering my thoughts, she looked up and spoke straight at Ella.

"Ella," she said tentatively, and Ella's head snapped around to look at her, "I'm happy for you and Albus, really. I fully support your right to be unhappy for the rest of your life."

"Thanks Jade." Ella smiled, half bemused, half bewildered.

"You're welcome," Jade grinned half-heartedly.

"Guys I need to ask you something." Rio whispered and we all immediately leaned in closer. By this time, our ears were so attuned to whispers, we automatically tuned into a whispered conversation by instinct. "Oliver asked me if I was ready."

"Ready for what?" questioned Jade.

"You know… ready." Rio said, obviously trying to avoid saying a particular word.

"No, we don't know." I said, "Enlighten us."

"He asked me if I was ready to have sex." Rio said, blushing a furious red and looking at the ground.

"Whoa!" I said loudly, "Did _not_ need to know that."

"Well you asked me to tell you." Rio said still looking incredibly embarrassed.

"Yeah, Rio, your life in the bedroom is yours to keep to yourself." Ella said awkwardly.

"Fat lot of help you guys are." Rio said sarcastically, "Jade?" she asked, turning to Jade, who hadn't spoken a word during the conversation.

"I'm with Ella and Rose on this, we do _not_ need to know about your sex life." Jade said, shaking her head, "and in case you hadn't noticed, all three of us are virgins."

Rio looked confused, "Wait, you guys think that I want to know how to do it…" she paused and looked at all three of us in turn, when none of us denied the assumed thought, she continued, "No, no, no, no, no, I'm not asking how to do it, I want to know if you think I should."

"Oh," all three of us said in realisation, dragging the word out over two or three seconds.

"Well, that makes it a lot less awkward." Jade said, her eyes lighting up brightly. "But I don't know what to say."

Rio snorted, "Thanks Jade. Rose, Ella?"

"Well, generally it's your choice as to whether you want to do it or not, don't let us influence your decision…" Ella said, putting her hands up in surrender,

"I was afraid you'd say that." Rio said, kissing her teeth in frustration. "Rose?"

"Well, are you ready?" I said, feeling a blush creeping up my cheeks as I addressed the elephant in the room.

"Sort of," Rio said, embarrassed, "I mean, I love him and all, but…" she trailed off.

"But?" I prompted.

"But I don't know, it's a big decision." Rio said in frustration, "I'll have to think on it more."

"You do that." Jade said, scribbling away at a piece of homework. "Oh, and if you do decide to 'do it' then please don't describe it to us, we just might vomit."

"Oh, don't worry, I wouldn't recount it to you even if you payed me a hundred galleons." Rio said, the blush creeping back into her face. "Which reminds me, Rose, your six galleons." She said, tossing six fat, gold coins across the room at me.

"Sweet, thanks. Now I have money for the next Hogsmeade visit." I said, leaning over to get my purse out of my trunk.

"Which is next week," Ella reminded me excitedly, "Oh this is going to be so amazing, Albus told me he'd take me to Madame Puddifoot's teashop and then he'd take me behind the scenes at the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to call in a favour from his Uncle George."

"My uncle George too," I said indignantly, "Just make sure you don't snog too much in front of George, he'll never let you guys live it down."

"Noted," Ella laughed.

"Are you guys coming for Christmas this year?" I asked, "Because if you are then you're going to have to find a way to tell your parents."

"They'll be fine with it," Ella said, dismissing the statement with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, I don't know, remember how your dad reacted when Abi started to date James." I said, bringing up the huge row that had occurred at Easter three years ago when Ella's older sister Abi had started to date James Potter. "I think he could've hexed James to hell and back."

"That's because it was his first daughter that actually dated… I think Alice avoided it for that exact reason." Ella mused, "He'll be fine with it." She repeated.

"Just keep convincing yourself of that." I smirked. "Just keep convincing yourself."

* * *

"Finally!" Scorpius said, in a euphorious tone when I finished telling him about Ella and Albus. It was going to reach his ears sooner or later, with the rate that the gossip at Hogwarts was spread, I just figured he might like to hear it from me. "God I thought it was going to take a hundred years before Potter figured out that Longbottom liked him. If it got any more obvious I was going to hex him."

"So was I," I admitted, "He's inherited the male Weasley trait of 'obliviousness', I don't even know how that's possible, he's only my dad's nephew."

Scorpius laughed, "Your dad was oblivious too?"

"As was Uncle Bill, Uncle Percy and Uncle George," I said, adding to the list of oblivious males in my family. Scorpius obviously knew who they were as he didn't ask for clarification on who they were. "So," I said, slapping my hand on the table to attract his attention, "Did you do the revision I set for you?"

I had to say I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled out the work, handing it over to me to check. I had fully prepared myself to yell at him for not doing it, so it was nice not to have to raise my blood pressure.

"I'll check over these while you do this page." I said, indicating the page that the textbook lay open at. "It's just a harder version of this revision."

Scorpius nodded and set to work as I pulled his assigned work towards me and began to mark it, ticking off the questions in my head as I went along. _Question 1, correct. Question 2, correct. Question 3, Correct._ It went on and on like this until I reached the last question. _Question 29, correct._

"Scorpius," I said slowly and he looked up from his work, "These are all correct."

"Really?" he said happily, "I guess these sessions are paying off then."

"Scorpius," I said again, not taking my eyes off of his paper, "You've already done all the steps that you need to do in the one you're doing now."

"Ah, I was wondering how they were different." He said, shrugging, "It's no big deal, I don't mind doing them over."

"I don't think you need to," I said, "this is really advanced stuff Scorpius, I haven't taught you this yet…"

"Well, then consider me extra smart." Scorpius said with a cheesy grin.

"I think we can call it a night," I said, looking at the fifteen questions that he'd already done from the other revision sheet and finding that they were all correct. "You don't need any more help on this one, trust me." I gathered up my stuff and stood to leave.

"Uh… I still need help with English and understanding the language that the Shakespeare guy used. Can you help me with that tomorrow night?" Scorpius asked, a little too quickly.

"Sure." I smiled, "Same time, same station?"

"Same time, same station." He confirmed

* * *

"Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose." Jade started yelling as soon as I walked through the portrait hole after tutoring.

"Whoa, what did I miss?" I said, gripping her by the elbows as she ran at me.

"I'm so screwed! Bradley Mace just reminded the whole muggle studies class about that essay on the Spear guy that's due tomorrow. Have you started it?"

"I finished it last night while you, Ella and Mae were playing Poker and its Shakespeare" I said disapprovingly, "and no you cannot see it to get a general idea of what to write." I added as Jade opened her mouth to ask.

"Come on Rose! I'm your best friend." Jade pleaded as she flopped back into her seat where she had her homework strewn out.

"How can you even find anything in this mess?" I asked, completely disregarding her previous question and picking up piles of paper and starting to sort them according to subject.

"It's an organised mess, honestly, you're worse than my mother." Jade said, snatching the papers out of my hands and dropping them back on the table where they scattered again. "So can I pretty please read your essay?"

"For the last time, no means no, you can work your arse off like the rest of the class while I sit back, eat ice cream and laugh at you." I said, sitting down and putting my feet up on a chair opposite me.

"Some friend you are." Jade grumbled, picking up her quill and copying a few sentences down from the textbook.

"Hey Rose, Jade." A voice said from behind me, "You guys are finishing off the muggle studies essay too?" I turned around to see Mae Jackson sitting down beside Jade.

"Jade is, I'm not." I said, pulling a chocolate frog out of my bag and ripping it open with my teeth, I was smart enough to do it while you guys played poker.

"Whatever." Mae said, sticking her tongue out at me, "I don't even do muggle studies, but I've got some Arithmancy homework to do….Want to give me one?" she gestured to the chocolate frog in my mouth.

"No," I said with my mouth full, "Do your work."

"After will-"

"Do your work."

"Pardon me for breathing," Mae mumbled, pulling out a roll of parchment and a quill and starting to write, leaving me to my thoughts. My mind strayed over many things, mostly Albus and Ella, who I couldn't help but think about because they were sucking each other's faces in the corner. I thought about Rio, who'd been awfully quiet since she'd asked for our advice last night, where was she now anyway? Probably snogging Oliver somewhere. Great, we'd gone from being the only five girls in the school without dates at the beginning of the year, and now it was whittled down to Jade, Mae and I and it wasn't even Christmas yet. I thought about Scorpius, which I did increasingly often nowadays, and how he had been desperate to meet again so that I could help him with Shakespeare, but we'd finished Shakespeare ages ago, and our essay that determined our final mark was due in tomorrow, before our tutoring session. It didn't add up, unless Scorpius had mistaken the date. _Or_ said a sly little voice in the back of my mind _maybe he just wants to spend time with you_. I dismissed it quickly, _In your dreams, Rose, In your dreams_.

* * *

"Jade, could you read over this for me?" I heard Mae ask about half an hour later as she finished off her essay with a flourish, "I'm not too sure on the midsection, but I'm sure that the introduction and conclusion is decent."

"Sure," Jade said, smiling softly at Mae and picking up her paper. _Wait a second_ , I thought, _I know that look!_ It was the look in Jade's eyes whenever she looked at Ella before the big fiasco. So _this_ was who she was telling Rio about. I quickly looked at Mae, who looked slightly nervous about something. Why am I so good at telling people's emotions? I bent down to get another chocolate frog out of my bag and I think it was safe to say that I was _not_ prepared for what I saw when I came back up.

Mae was kissing Jade, I mean not just talking with their faces close together, she was actually kissing her, and Jade was kissing her back. Well this was awfully sudden; it's like my thoughts just spring to life when I think them. No, seriously, that kiss literally came out of _nowhere_. There was no way anyone could've seen that coming, spontaneous kissing must be the norm nowadays. Maybe I should spontaneously kiss Scorpius. _No!_ I thought _stop thinking about him like that!_

Jade and Mae finally broke apart, smiling softly at each other. I cleared my throat,

"Well, I'll just leave you two alone." I said, standing up and walking away quickly. Yay, now it was just little old me, never had a date, and never been kissed.

* * *

"Jade, Jade!" Ella squealed, running across the great hall towards us at Lunch the next day.

"Hi Ella, where's the million galleons?" Jade said, a smile spreading across her face as she and Mae, now her girlfriend, intertwined their hands under the table.

"I've just heard!" she squealed, gesturing to the two of them who were sitting awfully close together. "Oh Jade I'm so happy for you two!"

"Thanks Ella," Jade beamed as Ella turned to Mae.

"Alright Mae, I may have known you since first year, and we may be relatively good friends, but that won't stop me from hexing your arse to Neptune and back if you hurt Jade. Are we clear?" Ella said, putting a hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow at Mae.

"Crystal." Mae said with a smile. "Besides, I would never dream of hurting her."

"You're too sweet." Jade said, pecking a kiss on Mae's cheek.

"I'm glad you got your girl, Jade." Ella said, her expression softening slightly, "Now we can commence operation 'get Rosie a date'" she grinned slyly at me.

"Hey!" I said indignantly, "I'm perfectly capable of getting myself a date thank you."

"Prove it then," Rio piped up, "By the next Hogsmeade visit, you have to have a date."

"But that's tomorrow!" I exclaimed, "At least give me until the end of term."

"No, If you really think that you can get yourself a date, then you have to have one by tomorrow." Rio said, crossing her arms.

"As much as I hate turning down a challenge, I'm going to have to. That is physically impossible Ree!" I exclaimed, bringing my fist down on the table.

"Oh I don't know, Daniel Thomas looks a little desperate." Ella said, nodding her head towards the place on the Gryffindor table that Albus, Oliver and Daniel sat.

"Daniel? Really? Everyone knows that he's as gay as the fourth of July, even though he won't admit it to himself." I said, "Either way, I would not date him for a thousand galleons."

"Picky, Picky, Picky," Jade said, "How about Bradley Mace? He's alright looking."

"Carla Mace's twin? No." I said flatly.

"Why, what've you got against Carla?" Jade asked, confused.

"A lot of things," I mumbled, "Anyway, just drop it guys, I'm not going to get myself a date by tomorrow, so consider the challenge abandoned."

"You're no fun Rose, the whole point of that was so you _would_ fail." Rio said.

"At least I know when I will fail." I said, "I guess I'll just hang out with Mira, Lily, Frank and Hugo then, seeing as you guys will be off with each other snogging."

I saw Ella open her mouth to protest, possibly about the snogging comment, but then shut her mouth as she realised that what I'd said was true for all of them.

"What are we supposed to say to that?" Jade asked, shaking her head.

"You're supposed to say, 'Oh, sorry Rose, we'll hang out with you,' but I guess you guys deserve your 'alone' time and I know you never would've offered to abandon your respective other's and run off with silly old me."

The awkwardness of the following moments was saved by the bell, signalling the start of afternoon classes, and the doom of Ella and Jade, who, despite working late into the night, had not been able to finish their essays on Shakespeare.

"This is all your fault Rose!" Jade said, punching me forcefully on the arm.

"What!" I exclaimed, "How is any of this my fault, if you'd just done it earlier instead of playing poker with Ella and Mae, you wouldn't have this predicament."

"You didn't let me look over yours." Jade said, scowling at me.

"Because you need to learn to fend for yourself," I said angrily, "If I let you 'look over' my work for the rest of your life you're never going to learn how to write a report or an essay yourself, so put that in your juice box and suck it up!"

"But you're…" Jade started before I cut her off.

"No, Jade, no buts about it, you're not copying any more of my work." I said, stamping my foot like a three year old would do in a tantrum. "case closed."

"Fine then," she muttered, "be a bitch."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, okay?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever miss high and mighty." Jade replied obnoxiously.

"Jade I'm going to hex you in a second." I said, putting my hand inside my robes threateningly.

"Alright, I'm shutting up, I'm shutting up… oh, bye guys!" she said as Rio and Mae walked away towards the Arithmancy classroom on the fourth floor. Mae turned around and blew a kiss back at Jade, who blushed furiously as she returned the gesture.

"You two are so sweet you know that?" I said, giving Jade a nudge to keep going, "You're totally made for each other."

"Thanks Rose," she said with a smile, "we're going to tell our parents in the holidays; we're going to have to do it sooner or later, so we're going to do it sooner."

"Let me know how that goes." I said, "I'm sure you'll be fine though."

"I hope so." Jade replied, "I really hope so."

* * *

"If you could all take a permission note on your way out," Professor Simona announced, "It just tells us that your parents are alright with us taking you out of the school grounds for the camping trip during January."

"So we _are_ going out of the school?" Ella asked, as she picked up a slip of paper that Professor Simona had levitated over.

"Where are we going?" Jade asked, also taking a slip of paper.

"The forest of Dean, Rose's mother recommended it to the school." She said, beaming at me as my blood ran cold. _Thanks mum, thanks_. I snatched up a note and followed Jade and Ella out of the classroom quickly, partly to avoid embarrassment, and partly because I really needed to go to the bathroom.

"Rose!" I heard Scorpius call after me, absolutely perfect, just what I need right now, not!

"What do you want Scorpius?" I asked in a resigned tone.

"To thank you." He said, smiling at me, "I'm pretty sure I aced the test thanks to you."

"You're welcome." I said, rocking back and forth on my heels, trying to avoid peeing my pants.

"I'll see you tonight, yeah?" he said, "In the library."

"Yeah, see you then." I said.

"Okay then, bye Rose." He said, and with that, he turned on his heel and ran off after his Slytherin friends.

"What…" Ella said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Was that?" Jade finished, putting a hand on my other shoulder.

"That was Scorpius and I working out a time for tutoring tonight." I said, shrugging them off and making a beeline for the nearest bathroom.

"Scorpius and I, _Scorpius_ and I, since when have you started calling him Scorpius?" Ella said as she and Jade followed me inside.

"A few weeks, why?" I said, locking myself in a cubicle. That's when it struck me, they didn't know about Scorpius' medication, and the way that he'd changed, they didn't know that we were on first name terms.

"Rose, you have been calling him all manner of names since first year, none of which are _Scorpius_ , why would you start now?" Ella said, and I could just picture her look of shock.

"It's a long story." I said.

"We're listening." Jade said, and I heard a creak as she sat down on a sink.

"No, I mean it's like a seriously long story, and you guys wouldn't understand anyway." I said, flushing the toilet, letting myself out of the cubicle and making my way over to the sink to wash my hands.

"Try us?" Jade said, putting her hands on her hips.

"No, when I say you won't understand, I _know_ you won't understand." I said, knowing what their reaction would be like if I did tell them.

"Fine then, don't tell us." Ella said, crossing her arms.

"Alright," I said, "I won't" I paused to look at their faces, which both looked shocked, and I knew that they were expecting me to cave in and tell, but oh no, that Rose walked away at the end of fifth year, I thought they would've figured that out by now. "So, change of subject." I said as we walked out of the bathrooms and towards dinner. "How do you reckon you did in the test?"

"Horribly, I couldn't remember any poetry techniques, and the section on Shakespeare I know I failed." Ella said miserably, "Jade?"

"I knew I'd fail before I even started the test." She scoffed, "Why're you even asking us Rose, everyone already knows that you're going to be top of the class." Great, we'd arrived at my intelligence level again.

"Why does every conversation we have about school end in how I'm going to be the most likely to top the class?" I asked.

"Because you are," Ella said, "Did that ever occur to you?"

"I don't like to think too highly of myself." I muttered, "It's called being humble, Ella."

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever," Jade said, "We've heard it all before. Now Rose is going to change the subject, so I'll save her the effort and change it for her." She paused slightly while she thought of something to talk about. "Oh yeah, what do you think about the camping trip?"

"Besides the fact that my mother recommended the place that we go to, I think it'll be fun, despite the fact that it'll be freezing cold, but I guess we'll have the whole girl population of the class in our tent, so it shouldn't be too bad." As I said that, I thought of having to share a tent with Carla Mace and shuddered visibly, I would share a tent with _anyone_ but her.

"I'm looking forward to it as well," Ella chirped, "Mum and Dad took us camping a few years ago over summer and I loved it. We were in a camp ground by a beach and everything, it was amazing."

"Good luck finding a beach in the middle of the Forest of Dean." I snorted, "I've been there before, mum and dad took Hugo and I last Christmas and it is honestly the most depressing place, but Mum and Dad feel a connection with it, so Hugo and I spent a week throwing stones at birds in an effort to entertain ourselves."

"Stop it Rose, you're ruining my perfect vision of camping." Jade said, hitting me on the shoulder as we walked through the doors to the great hall.

"Okay, Alright, Camping is amazing and there's no flaws in it." I said, cringing away as her hand flew towards my shoulder again.

"Thank you." She muttered, before skipping off quickly as she saw Mae sit down next to Rio at the Gryffindor table.

"I only wish I was telling her the truth," I muttered to Ella, whose eyes had just lit up at the sight of Albus who was scanning the hall for someone, evidently her. "Oh alright, go and snog your boyfriend." I said, giving her a little push. That was all the encouragement she needed, as she sprinted off towards Albus, who rose from the table to meet her with a kiss. I couldn't help but wonder if there would ever be a guy for me.

* * *

"Hey, Rose." Scorpius said, greeting me with his usual smile as I walked into the library. Another thing that I'd noticed about the time I'd been tutoring him, was that he was always here before me, like _always_.

"Hey," I said, sitting down opposite him and starting to pull out my books. "Scorpius?" I asked out of the blue, "Why did you ask me to help you with Shakespeare when our essay on him was due today? We've finished that unit."

"I-I, I forgot, I guess." He stammered, "I think I did okay with him, but I'm sure we can find something else that I'm bad at."

"Scorpius, why are you so desperate to keep me tutoring you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes, "are you going to have me killed or something?"

"What? No! I'm not my father, Rose." He said.

"Then why did you sound so desperate, when I said that you didn't need any more tuition, to keep me coming back?" I asked, giving him a confused look. He looked at his hands, nervously, his grey eyes darting around the room, possibly looking for any eavesdroppers.

"Okay, I have to come clean." He said in a whisper, "I was hoping you wouldn't realise, but I should've realised that you're too clever for your own good."

"Spit it out then," I said, leaning forward and propping my chin up with my elbows.

"Congratulations, you just found something else that I'm really bad at." He said, a blush creeping into his pale skin.

"Scorpius, you have approximately fifty minutes to get this out, and I don't want to wait until the last five, spit it out, now."

"Uh… I- Rose, I can't say this any other way, I don't have some fancy subtle way of telling you, because I'm not that smart, I just want you to know, that if you feel negatively afterwards, then can we please just stay friends?"

"I'll make that decision after you've told me." I said firmly, "Now spit it out!"

"I love you. Okay, there! Scorpius Malfoy loves Rose Weasley." He said loudly, "there I said it."

I sat there, shocked, all of those weeks, wondering why I had fallen for Scorpius and weather it was mutual or not, all of those nights I'd lain awake fuming about Scorpius' relationship with Carla, and he'd actually loved _me_.

"I, Scorpius…" I stammered, at a loss for words.

"Please don't say you think I'm repulsive…" He begged. I just sat there, processing all of the information, not knowing quite how to respond. I was completely in shock. And then, suddenly, out of the blue an Idea came to me, the same idea that had probably gone through Jade's, Mae's, Ella's and Rio's minds when their respective other's had confessed their attraction for them. Before I knew what I was doing, I had leant over the table and kissed him.

From the moment that our lips touched, I knew that his love for me was genuine as he reacted instantly kissing me back. It was everything that Ella, Jade, Rose and Mae had ever described. It was amazing. I felt like I was flying above the clouds, I felt like I was defying gravity, like nothing could bring me down at that moment.

A small cough sounded from behind us and we broke apart abruptly to see a shocked Professor Murray, who taught Defence Against the Dark Arts, standing behind us. I could immediately sense that she had seen the whole thing. I could feel a blush creeping up my neck and onto my cheeks as she spoke.

"Do not have sex, you will get pregnant, and you will die." She said seriously, her comment was obviously directed at me.

"Thanks for that, Professor." I said, embarrassedly, gathering up my stuff and slinging my bag over my shoulder before whispering to Scorpius, "Let's get out of here." He nodded, smiling triumphantly. He picked up his bag, took my hand and we walked towards the door.

"Use contraception!" Professor Murray yelled after us, throwing something at the back of Scorpius' head. I didn't need to look at it to realise what it was, and to think she's a teacher at this school. I mean, what teachers go around throwing condoms at students when they catch them making out in the corridors?

We arrived, breathless on the seventh floor corridor, only a few turns away from the Gryffindor common room.

"I'm so glad that you feel the same way about me." Scorpius said, holding me close to him as he caught his breath, "I've been searching for a way to tell you since I was half way through my relationship with Carla, and tonight, you just gave me a way to do so."

"And there was me thinking that you just thought of me as a friend." I said softly, "Why me though? You're Scorpius Malfoy, you could have any girl in the school and you chose to go for me. Why?"

"You know what they say," He smiled, "Opposites attract."

"Yeah," I laughed, "They really do."

With that, he pulled me in and pressed his lips against mine. It wasn't like the first kiss, which had been us expressing our feelings for each other in a thoroughly non-verbal way, but it was more like him telling me that he truly loved me, that I wasn't some sort of one-time thing that he'd dump the next day. He was telling me that he was in it for the long run, and so was I.


	13. Count on Me

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jade exclaimed, "Malfoy, Scorpius fucking Malfoy. You are going out with Scorpius Malfoy!"

"Yes, I am, have you got a problem with that." I said, sticking my finger in my ear and wiggling it around, making sure that I could still hear after Jade had completely lost it in my ear.

"Funnily enough, I do!" Jade said, running her hands through her hair.

"And why is that, may I ask?" I said, it was taking all I had not to yell at Jade then and there.

"He is a Slytherin for starters!" Jade yelled and I completely hit the roof.

"Didn't stop you from making out with Reed Flint in fourth year though did it?" I yelled back. Jade acted as if I'd never spoken.

"And, has the fact that he's a complete asshole managed to escape your attention?" Jade said angrily and I could see that I'd gotten through with my comment about Reed Flint, even if she hadn't responded.

"You don't know him like I do!" I retorted.

"And how do you know him?" Jade questioned, putting her hands on her hips and waiting for me to explain.

"Better than you do, that's for sure!" I exclaimed, tugging my tie off and tossing it aside. Jade opened her mouth to reply but I cut her off, "He's nice, Jade, he's one of the sweetest boys that I've ever met and all of that asshole stuff, It's not his fault. Haven't you noticed that he hasn't said _anything_ to you about Mae, or anything to Ella about Albus, don't you think he'd never let it go if he found out that you were dating a girl?"

"Sounds like the sort of thing that he'd do." Jade muttered.

"But he _hasn't_ " I said, stressing the last word, "Do you want to know why?" I didn't wait for her to answer, "It's because he can't help it, he couldn't help being a douchebag to us. He's on this medication for headaches and it just makes him horrible. He's taken himself off it and used a pain muffling charm and _that_ is why he's acting like a civilised human being." Jade didn't say anything. "Yeah, that's right." I said triumphantly. "Never judge a book by its cover."

"What's going on in here?" Rio asked, walking in with Mae and Ella, "Whoa, who walked in on who?"

"She's dating Malfoy." Jade said, she sounded numb as she pointed an accusing finger at me. Both Mae and Rio's mouths hit the floor in shock, while Ella started laughing. "There's nothing funny about this Ella!" Jade exclaimed.

"No, it's just now you owe me ten galleons." Ella giggled, "We bet on whether you were falling in love with Malfoy at your tutoring sessions, but it was a joke and now it's true so now she owes me money."

"You were betting on me?" I exclaimed.

"Doesn't feel so good does it?" Jade smirked, "Consider this your payback,"

"Oh you are so dead Jade Marks." I said, narrowing my eyes at her, "don't think you're off the hook, Ella because you most certainly are not. I'll deal with you both later."

"Anyway," Rio said, still in shock, "You're dating who?"

"Oh yeah, I think I'll take you back up on that bet, you know the one where I can get a boyfriend by the Hogsmeade visit tomorrow."

"Who are you dating, Rose?" Mae asked, still in a state of shock.

"Scorpius Malfoy," I said, shrugging it off, "Do you have a problem with that?" I asked the same question that I had asked Jade.

"I personally don't," Ella said sitting down on her bed and kicking off her shoes, "I support your right to be unhappy for the rest of your life."

"Thanks Ella," I said, not knowing whether to sound sarcastic or amused, "Rio, Mae, Jade?" I asked, looking at each of them in turn.

"I don't care, you stuck up for Jade and I, so I'm going to stick up for you." Mae said, sitting down on her bed.

"I guess the same as Mae, I don't like it, but I'll tolerate it for you Rosie." Rio said.

"Thanks guys." I smiled, "What about you, Jade?"

"I don't know."

"God, Jade are you honestly this conceited, I've stuck up for you all year, I've accepted your choices and even went as far as getting you help and you can't even tolerate me dating Scorpius. It's like you can count on me but I can't count on you." I said, my voice starting to break. _What the fuck, Rose! You are so not about to cry_. I thought to myself.

"She's got a point, Jade." Mae said tentatively, "Please just accept the fact that Rose is dating Malfoy."

"Fine, I guess I'm not totally in love with the idea, but for you, Rose, I'll do anything after all you've done for me." Jade said softly.

"Now she thanks me." I said, rolling my eyes, "Now, how about that revenge for the betting." I said, rubbing my hands together evilly, "What do you think, Rio what should be their fates?"

* * *

"Hey," I said as Scorpius fell into step beside me on the way through the grounds, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he smiled, "better than fine actually."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because I'm with you and look, no one gives a shit." He said, gesturing to the crowd of pupils around us who weren't giving us a second glance. "Ah the beauty of selfishness," he leaned down and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"You watch, within the hour the whole school will know." I said, nodding at a student, fourth year by the looks of her, had caught sight of him kissing me.

"Who cares?" Scorpius said, spreading his arms wide, "We've got each other and that's all that matters."

"Why did I never see this side of you before?" I asked, laughing, "You're so deep and meaningful."

"I try," Scorpius said, threading his fingers through mine as we walked across the snow covered grounds towards Hogsmeade, "So, where are your usual posse of four?"

"Probably making out in a corner somewhere…" I paused as I looked at his face, "Not with each other!" I added hastily, seeing his expression, "Although Jade and Mae probably are…"

"How did that happen? All five of you were the only seventh years without boyfriends… or girlfriends at the beginning of the year, and now there isn't one seventh year that isn't dating." He said as the first whisper of my name and Scorpius' together reached my ears. It was from the lips of Valerie Smith, a fifth year Gryffindor, she was the most annoying person in the world, even more annoying than Carla Mace!

"The word is out," I whispered to Scorpius, "and the strange thing is I really don't care."

"Neither, although I hope that the word doesn't reach my parents ears before I have the chance to tell them about us" Scorpius said, a hint of worry creeping into his voice, "I'd hate for them to find out from anyone except me."

"Oh god, same here!" I exclaimed, wondering if word was already flying by owl to my parents as a result of one of my many cousins witnessing Scorpius and I walking across the grounds. "If anyone but me tells my parents I'm so dead. Although everyone in my family is dead scared of my parents when they're mad, so I hope that stops them from telling."

"It must be pretty hard for you, having a million cousins at the school that you have to hide secrets from." Scorpius said, "I guess I'm lucky that I'm an only child and Aunt Daphne has no kids."

"You get used to them after a while, being alone in my family is almost unheard of, there are at least two people born in the same year, apart from Molly, she's the only one born in 2010 but we all hang out with each other anyway, it's not strictly age specific."

"That's great! I wish my family was big." Scorpius said.

"No you don't." I said, shaking my head, "No peace and quiet, ever."

"I get too much peace and quiet." Scorpius grumbled.

"You watch, once you meet my cousins you will never have another peaceful moment." I laughed, "If they listen to me about you being alright, that is."

"I've really made myself a lot of enemies haven't I?" Scorpius sighed and I squeezed his hand sympathetically, "I mean, I was popular once, but over the years, they've just left me. Underwart and Veruca were just there for company, neither of them actually talked to me at all, well maybe just a hello, but we never really had a conversation and when you started to tutor me they just stopped hanging out with me."

"That's horrible!" I said, "No one deserves that… well you did during first, second and third year, but not anymore."

"I can't even begin to say how sorry I am about that." Scorpius said, a blush creeping into his pale skin.

"It's alright," I said, waving it off, "Besides, those first three years we just hated each other on principle. You know, Weasley's and Malfoy's aren't supposed to be friends."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "I'm not my father, Rose, people just hear the name Malfoy and the first thing that comes to mind is Voldemort."

"I've got to admit, it's true." I said looking at the snow covered ground, "Everyone knows about your involvement in the war."

"No, not my involvement, my father's involvement and my grandparents' involvement, not my involvement," Scorpius said, slightly angrily, "I just hate it when people assume that I'm supposed to hate Muggle-Borns and the Gryffindors, especially the Potters and Weasleys. I've actually thought you were pretty cool ever since first year and I only teased you because you teased me."

"Oh, so you're pinning it on me now?" I said, stepping back from me in a 'come at me' type stance.

"No, no, I'm just saying, My father instructed me to stay away from you and when we wound up next to each other in the chamber off the hall on the first day, you asked me if I was a stuck up pureblood and I said that I was a pureblood but not stuck up and you didn't believe me. It just sort of escalated from there"

"Ah, good times," I joked, "I wish I could be in first year again, so young and carefree."

"Time turner?" Scorpius said.

"I wish," I snorted, "No one is going to give me a time turner, so unless you've got one stashed away in your trunk…" I trailed off as he gave me a sly grin, "Oh my god, you have got one stashed away in your trunk! How the hell did you get your hands on that?"

"My father gave it to me for my fifth birthday, didn't realise that the batty wizard had sold him a real one. He's remained oblivious ever since." Scorpius grinned, "We can have fun with it later, but for now, I want to take you on a date."

"I'd be delighted, good sir." I said, taking the arm that he offered me, "Where to now?"

"Have you got a preference?"

"No, not really, but the three broomsticks sounds great, despite the amount of people there, but who cares what they think." I said in a rush, my teeth chattering.

"Then we shall go forth, to the three broomsticks!" he said, pretending to be a knight on a horse.

"You are so ridiculously immature, you know that." I said, shaking my head as I walked quickly past him and his pretend horse, "Now hurry up, I'm about to freeze."

* * *

"It's bloody cold!" Scorpius said as we huddled next to each other in the three broomsticks, despite the amount of people in there, it was only a fraction warmer than the outside.

"The heating's off!" Madam Rosmerta called from behind the counter.

"The heating's off." Scorpius said in an 'of course it fucking is' tone, "How cold is it anyway?"

"Outside?" I said, glancing at the snow that was falling, "How many noughts have you got? Inside, I don't know, but I can't feel my feet, and various other parts."

"Lovely." Scorpius snorted, "Come on, let's go to Madame Puddifoots, it may be full of grossly sweet couples but at least it will be warm."

"I'm not going out in that!" I exclaimed, pointing at the sleet that was coming down outside.

"Well, we can freeze to death here or try and make our way to Madam Puddifoots, it's only a few doors down, a three minute walk, one minute if we're running."

"Then let's run." I said, a playful smile coming across my face as I took his hand, ignoring the whispers of our names that we caught from various conversations. We burst out of the building, sprinting at full pelt towards Madam Puddifoots teashop. Within seconds, we were soaked to the core as the mixture of rain and snow came down on our heads heavily. Before we knew it, we were both laughing our heads off, staggering as if we were drunk, towards the teashop. Scorpius fell face first into the snow, he was laughing that hard. There wasn't even anything funny, it was more the fact that we were running in the rain that made it laughable.

I doubled over trying to catch my breath from laughter as I helped him up, he was still laughing.

"Remind me of this whenever I'm cranky, I'll cheer right up!" Scorpius yelled over the sound of the wind and rain.

"Same goes for me!" I laughed, taking his gloved hand in mine as we ran the last few meters to the door.

"That's got to be the stupidest thing I've done since third year." Scorpius said as we trudged inside, dripping water all over the floor.

"I'm soaked to the skin!" I exclaimed, holding my arms out wide.

"No matter," He said, pointing his wand at me and I immediately felt a warm sensation creep from my head to my feet, warming me up and drying my clothes instantly.

"Thanks" I said, drawing my wand and doing the same to him. I noticed Albus and Ella sitting a corner, holding hands and talking quietly, Rio and Oliver were nowhere to be seen, probably in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes or the Hogs Head with Jade and Mae.

"Can I help you?" A woman, who was probably Madam Puddifoot asked.

"Yeah, can we get a table?" I asked breathlessly.

"Of course," she said curtly, leading us over to a table by the window and taking our orders; two teas, one with milk and one without, both of us took two sugars.

"So, tell me more about your family." Scorpius said, "They sound fascinating."

"Well… they all hate you on principle," I said and Scorpius' face fell; I smiled and continued, "We're all pretty close, despite the fact that Victoire is ten years older than Molly."

"And Victoire and Molly are?" he asked expectantly.

"Victoire is the oldest and Molly is the youngest."

"Ah," he said, leaning back in his seat, "Continue."

"Um, Victoire is engaged, her wedding is at Christmas. Fred, Roxanne and Lucy are travelling the world together, Dominique is working in France and James is running the Joke shop in Diagon Alley; the rest of us are stuck here." I finished, "We're not that interesting."

"Oh no, I only see an article on one of you in the paper around three times a week. It's mostly for Roxanne and her photography, but you know you get a little bit of Dominique or James in there as well." He shrugged, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure." I said hesitantly,

"I had a crush on Dominique for the longest time." He whispered, lowering his voice so only I could hear him.

"And you're telling me this?" I said loudly, "That happens to be my cousin."

"Hey, I don't anymore! I realised around fourth year that she was out of reach and moved on." He said indignantly.

"I'm so telling Dom that!" I laughed and Scorpius looked mortified. "I'm joking, don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"Good… oh tea time!" he said as our tea arrived.

"Tell me about your family." I asked, holding the warm mug in my stone cold hands.

"My mum is called Astoria, she was in Slytherin, my dad is called Draco, and he was in Slytherin too. I have an Aunt called Daphne; guess what house she was in? Slytherin." He said in a bored tone, answering his own question. "That's all really."

I was about to reply when I noticed a couple who looked like they were in about fifth year, talking in whispers and looking over at us. I sighed.

"They're talking about us again." I said in a resigned tone.

"Oh yeah?" Scorpius said, looking over at the fifth year couple, "We'll let's give them something to _really_ talk about and with that he leaned over and kissed me full on the lips. I'll bet _that_ shut them up!

* * *

"I can't believe how fast this has gone!" Mae exclaimed as we rode down to Hogsmeade station in one of the carriages with invisible horses.

"It's amazing." I said, looking back at the castle that faded away in the distance, "We're also leaving this term, no longer single." I added, earning a round of high-fives.

"How do you reckon your parents are going to take it?" I asked Jade and Mae, referring to their relationship and their sexuality.

"Not sure." Jade said, "I don't know what their views are on the subject."

"I know mine won't be pleased." Mae said miserably, "I just hope they have enough compassion to let me stay in the house, because I don't know where I'll go if they kick me out. My whole family lives in South America and Australia."

"You're always welcome at mine." I said, smiling softly.

"And mine." Jade said, "I don't care what my fucking parents say, I'm staying with you no matter what."

"And this is why I love you." Mae said, leaning over and kissing Jade on the lips.

"What about you, Rose, how do you think your parents will take you dating Scorpius?" Rio asked putting her feet on my lap. I shoved them off irritably.

"Oh, they'll hit the roof for sure, but like Mae I'm hoping that they have enough compassion to keep me because none of you bitches will." I said in a joking tone, not about my parents hitting the roof, that was bound to happen whether I wanted it to or not; but about my friends being bitches, because they were far from it.

"Love you too Rosie." Rio said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry Ree, my love is reserved for Jade and Mae as a couple and my boyfriend." I joked. You see, this is how I avoid awkward situations, I joke to take the edge off, and eventually the topic moves away. It always worked, no matter how awkward the situation got.

"So, what are you guys doing for Christmas?" Ella asked, "I know I'm going to the Burrow with Rose but what about you guys?"

"I think I'm going to Wales." Jade said, looking up at the ceiling as she thought, "Not sure."

"I'll be stuck at my muggle cousin's football matches." Rio said grumpily.

"I'm staying in England." Mae said, "Yep I'm boring."

"I think you're the single most interesting girl in all of Hogwarts." Jade said, lacing her fingers in Mae's.

"Ugh, sweetness overload!" I said.

Before I knew it, we were back in London, this term had gone so quickly, what with all the drama with getting boyfriends (and girlfriends) and the deaths (and almost deaths) It was by far the most eventful term at Hogwarts that we'd ever had, and that includes the time that my dear cousin Fred decided to turn Professor McGonagall's hat a bright pink and it took her at least six months to find out the counter curse.

"I'll see you in three weeks, yeah?" Jade said, hugging me goodbye as the train pulled to a stop.

"Yeah, have fun in Wales!" I called after her as she ran out of the carriage. Jade had always been the first off the train, no one knew why.

"I told you, I don't even know if I'm going yet, but I'll write to you anyway." She called back through the crowds converging into the corridor.

"Good luck, Mae." I said as Mae prepared to leave the carriage, "I hope to see you alive next term."

"Thanks Rose," Mae said, giving me a hug, "I hope to see you alive too." I made a face at her as she walked out into the corridor and was swallowed by a sea of students.

As the crowd started to thin, Rio, Ella and I exited, all three of us had something that we didn't want to tell our parents. I didn't even want to see my parents until I'd plucked up enough courage to tell them. Ella, of course was still embarrassed about her little 'incident' as we liked to refer to it as. Rio was hiding from her elder sister Elise, who was sure to not let her out of her sight for the rest of the holidays.

"Eleanor," I said, turning to Ella as we stepped off the train, "I shall see you in a few weeks."

"Bye Rose." Ella said, hugging me tightly, before walking off to join her parents and brother.

"Rio," I said, turning to the petite black haired girl, "Have fun at your muggle cousin's football matches."

"You have fun at your Grandparents place," she said, giving me a hug, "I'll write to you… oh god no, here comes Elise. I'd better go and cry with her." And with that I was left alone, with no other choice but to join my parents and brother, who were waiting for me beside the barrier.

* * *

_Ding dong_

"I'll get it," I called from the living room where I was writing to Scorpius.

"Quickly Rosie, you'll let the cold in." Mum called from the kitchen where she was making dinner. I put the piece of parchment carefully behind a pillow on the couch and skipped to the door.

"Whoever you are you're completely mad for coming out her in weather like this…" I trailed off as I opened the door. My mouth fell open in shock at who was standing there.

"Mae?" I said in disbelief, "What's wrong?" I added worriedly, surveying the tears that were mingled in with the rain. She was standing on the front doorstep with only a small suitcase for company.

"R-Rose," she whimpered, "Can I stay with you for a while? I've got nowhere else to go." And with that, she collapsed into my arms, possibly from exhaustion, most probably because she was stone cold. Either way I knew it was absolutely serious.

"Mum! Dad!" I called out, panic entering my voice, "A little help?"

"What's happened Rose?" I heard Mum call as she ran from the kitchen.

"It's Mae," I called back, trying to keep as calm as possible, "I think she needs a place to stay."

"Oh my goodness!" Mum said, clutching at her chest as she saw me standing in the doorway with Mae in my arms, "What's happened? Never mind, Rose bring her inside and we'll get her some blankets. She'll catch her death out here." Mum aided me in getting Mae to her feet. "Rose, take Mae into the living room and I'll make hot chocolate and set an extra place at the table."

I obeyed, pulling Mae's arm over my shoulder, I walked her into the Living room and sat her down on the couch, immediately turning the fire up with my wand. I opened all the doors of the hall cupboard and pulled out a few blankets, ran back into the living room and draped them over Mae's shoulders.

"What happened Mae?" I asked worriedly as Mae sobbed and shuddered as she drew the blankets tighter around herself. She shook her head slightly.

"It's okay, tell me when you're ready." I said, Mae looked at me before uttering the words that I knew were coming from the moment that I saw her on the doorstep.

"They k-kicked me out, I told them about Jade and I- and they kicked me out."


	14. Extraordinary Merry Christmas

“Are you sure that you don’t want me to call someone, Mae; an aunt, your sister or brother?” Mum asked as Mae pulled the blankets to the camp bed that she was sleeping on over her body.

“No, it’s okay Mrs Weasley, I’ll contact my siblings in the morning, I don’t know how my brother will react, but my sister has a few gay friends, so I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Mae said politely, her eyes were still red around the edges from crying. “Thank you for everything, by the way.”

“It’s no problem,” Mum said, smiling at Mae “You’re always welcome here,” she paused for a second as her eyes darkened, “And I’ll be having a word with your parents in the morning too.”

“No, please don’t!” Mae begged, “I don’t want you to get involved, but thank you anyway, Mrs Weasley.”

“If you need anything, don’t be afraid to yell out.” Mum said, switching off the light and shutting the door, “Goodnight girls,” she said as her footsteps padded away.

Once I was sure that she was in her room talking to dad about whatever the hell they talked about while Hugo and I weren’t around, I flicked on my bedside lamp.

“You ready?” Mae asked nodding her head slightly at me.

“Are you _sure_ this is a good idea, Mae?” I asked, slipping out from underneath the blankets and picking up my wand from where it lay on my bedside table.

“Of course I’m sure, I’m the queen of being sure.” Mae whispered, tiptoeing over to the window and opening it. The icy night air blew inside the room making my teeth instantly start chattering and I clamped my jaw together. Flannel pyjamas weren’t going to keep us warm tonight. “T-top dr-draw,” I said to Mae, my teeth chattering with the cold as I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to keep warm. Mae opened the top draw of my dresser and pulled out the woollen jumpers that I’d accumulated from Grandma Molly over the years. She tossed me the one that I’d received last year and took the one that I’d got the year before, which was too small for me, as I’d inherited my father’s lankiness, while it was too long on Mae, who was quite short in comparison to me. We pulled on padded thermal jackets that mum had bought Hugo and I when we went skiing a few Christmases ago.

“You’ve got the place in your mind?” I said, as I put one leg over the windowsill and prepared to make the four foot drop from my window onto the snowy ground below.

“Yeah.” Mae said, her teeth starting to chatter, “Thanks for agreeing to do this with me, Rose. I mean, it is Christmas tomorrow and I’m sure you want to get some sleep so that you can get up early and open your presents.”

“Rubbish, you’re much more important.” I said, as I dropped out of the window, landing clumsily on the snowy ground. Mae mimicked my actions until we were both standing underneath my window, which I realised too late, was out of reach, meaning that we couldn’t close them, and I was pretty sure that my hands were frozen solid, ruling out any possibility for using it to close the windows. Plus, there was no way I was taking them out of the warmth of my pockets. Thankfully, it appeared that Mae didn’t mind exposing her hand as she drew her wand and flicked it at the window, causing it to shut with a soft thud.

“Shall we go then?” I asked, grabbing her upper arm and one hand on my wand in my pocket.

“Ready?” Mae asked. I barely had time to nod before we had turned on the spot and disapparated.

~0~

“Are you _sure_ this is the right place?” I asked Mae as she looked around confusedly.

“Yeah, this is definitely Cardiff, but I think we’re in the wrong place. Leah lives over there somewhere.” She said, indicating somewhere to the west.

“Jesus,” I said, sitting down on a bench that was sitting in the middle of the park we had apparated to and holding my head, which had been throbbing painfully since we’d appeared here a few minutes ago, “This is the last time I apparate to Wales, I’m catching the train from now on.”

“I didn’t say you had to come.” Mae said, as she clambered up a tree to try and get her bearings.

“I know that, but I should’ve listened to Mum when she told me that apparating internationally was a bad idea.” I moaned.

“It’s hardly international.” Mae scoffed, “It’s still in the UK.”

“It’s far away enough from England to give you an ear-splitting headache.” I said, massaging my temples.

“No, it’s okay, I know where we are. I was just looking at it from the wrong way. Leah’s place is a two minute walk that way.” She said, pointing north, come on. She’ll probably be on the late shift, but we can catch her just before she leaves.”

“You don’t have to do this Mae.” I said as she jumped down from the tree, “You’re welcome to stay at ours until we go back to school. Plus, this is _Wales_ how are you going to get back for school?” I said.

“I’ll probably catch the train back down a few days before term starts. Come on, she’ll be leaving in a few minutes.” Mae said, setting off through the park towards the street.

“Remind me what your sister does again?” I said, hurrying to catch up to her.

“She’s an auror undercover in the Cardiff police force.” Mae responded as we reached the road, “Don’t ask me why, Shacklebolt just asked her to do that and she agreed, no questions asked. It might be why she keeps getting promotions.”

“It looks like England.” I remarked as we walked down the streets lined with houses and cars.

“Every place looks the same in one way or another. What did you expect it to look like?” Mae laughed.

“I expected it to be a bit more… I don’t know. Welsh.” I said, looking at our surroundings. Mae laughed loudly.

“Obviously it’s your first time out of the country.”

“Yeah,” I said sheepishly, “We were going to go to Australia last summer, but we cancelled because it was winter over there and apparently it gets a little chilly. Why would you forsake summer for winter?”

“Here we go,” Mae said, pointing to an apartment block, “Leah lives at number twelve.”

“Should I stay here?” I asked.

“So you can freeze your arse off? Of course not, come inside with me.” Mae said, pulling me in by my arm. “Leah will probably want to meet you anyway. She’ll probably let you floo back to England so you don’t have to apparate.”

“Is it even possible to Floo internationally?” I asked, my brow creasing into an expression of concentration as I tried to remember my books on wizarding transport.

“Of course it is! I’ve done it hundreds of times.” Mae said confidently, “You can floo to any house that’s a part of the floo network.”

“Then remind me why we had to apparate here when we could’ve flooed from my house?” I said irritably.

“Because we’d still be spinning now,” Mae said, “It’s safer, but apparition is quicker.”

“I need to get a book on transportation.” I mumbled, “The one that I had before is my mum’s copy from 1991 and stuff seriously needs to be updated.” The elevator dinged and we stepped out onto the third floor. I could see a glittering, golden number twelve on the door a few feet away. Mae drew in a shaky breath and walked over to it. I followed her silently.

 _Knock, knock, knock, knock_.

Mae rapped on the door four times in quick succession.

“I’m coming Gwen, seriously, give me a break, It’s not even twelve yet!” I heard the voice of Mae’s older sister call from within. The door swung open to reveal Leah in her police uniform, clipping a muggle device which I could recognise as a walkie-talkie to her vest. As she looked up, I could see her expression turn from irritation to shock. “M-Mae?”

“Hi Leah.” Mae said softly, smiling.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, stepping back from the door and motioning for her to come in,” and who’s your friend?”

“This is Rose Weasley, and I’m here because mum and dad kicked me out.” Mae said, her voice choking up slightly as she said the last few words.

“What, why?” Leah asked, still confused.

“Because I ‘came out’ to them.” Mae said quietly, looking up at her sister with pleading eyes.

“Well it was only a matter of time.” Leah said, “I was wondering when you’d realise.”

“Fuck, Leah you knew and you didn’t tell me?” Mae exclaimed, “And this whole time I thought it was such a shock to people because I passed for straight really well.”

“Well what was I supposed to say? ‘Hey Mae, this might sound weird but you’re a lesbian’?” Leah said, shaking her head.

“Fair point,” Mae said, “Anyway, um, Rose’s family have offered to give me shelter, but I wanted to spend Christmas with family, and you’re my sister.”

“So you trekked all the way out to _Wales_? And brought your friend along too.”

“Oi!” I said as Leah jabbed her thumb at me, “’her friend’ has a name.”

“Sorry,” Leah said, not looking remotely sorry at all, “But seriously Mae, I know you love me, but even I couldn’t be bothered to do that.”

“Leah,” Mae started, looking at the ground, “I wanted to ask if I could stay with you until School starts back, mum and dad won’t let me back in the house.”

“What?” Leah exclaimed, “They kicked you out permanently?”

“I said that as soon as I walked in.” Mae said.

“Going a bit deaf…” Leah responded before bursting out into a full on rant “Those homophobic bastards, I’m going to fucking kill them.”

Mae rolled her eyes at me. “Now she reacts.”

“Shit Mae, after Christmas is over you and I are going down there and having a word with them, they can’t do that!”

“So I can stay with you then?” Mae asked eagerly.

“Yeah, of course. You’ll be alone tonight though, I’ve got a shift in about a minute, my partner should be here in about thirty seconds though. Is that alright?” Leah asked, “You know where everything is.”

There was a knock at the door and Leah immediately shot it an annoyed look. “There’s Gwen, gotta go. I’ll see you in the morning, Mae.” And as if she had read my mind, she pointed to a small cupboard by her fire, “The floo powder is in there.” She said, before opening the door to reveal a young, black haired woman with a police vest on.

“Honestly Leah, what have I told you about waiting on the street.” The woman, Gwen, said.

“Well sorry if my sister decided to turn up five minutes ago.” Leah said, the end of her sentence being cut off as the door swung shut behind her. I walked over to the fireplace, looking back at Mae.

“Are you sure you want to stay here with your sister?” I asked,

“Positive,” Mae said, offering me a small smile, “Like I said, I want to spend Christmas with my family and plus, Jade is in Wales over the holidays, we might be able to meet up.”

The clock above the mantle donged loudly, twelve times, letting us know that it was midnight.

“Merry Christmas, Mae.” I said, opening the cabinet and taking out the bag marked ‘ _Floo Powder_ ’

“Merry Christmas, Rose.” She replied as I tossed the powder into the fire and got a roar of green flames in response, “Have fun with your family.”

“Have fun with your sister… and Jade if you can get in touch with her.” I said, putting one foot in the fire.

“Thanks for everything, Rose.” Mae said as I stepped fully into the fireplace, yelling

“The Weasley Household, London.” I waved slightly as I was pulled into blackness, green flames being my only light. I spun around and around and around, my elbow knocking into occasional objects that might have got lost in the process of flooing. By the time I’d been spinning for a good minute and a half I knew that this was going to take a little longer than apparition. _Fuck_ I thought as I showed no signs of slowing down any time soon _this is the_ last _time I go to Wales._

~0~

“So you’re meaning to tell me that you and Mae apparated to _Wales_ in the middle of the night just to drop Mae off at her sister’s place?” Dad asked, his eyes wide and his expression livid.

“Something along those lines,” I said tiredly, my eyelids drooping. After a five and a half minute floo powder trip, I had finally gotten back to bed at around twelve thirty in the morning on Christmas Day, only to be woken up by the hyperactive Hugo bouncing into my room all well rested and happy at around six thirty the next morning.

“You went _out of the country_ in the middle of the night!” Dad said, his voice dangerously close to yelling at me.

“Give me a break Dad, it’s Christmas, we have to be at the burrow in a few hours.” I mumbled.

“We’re not going anywhere until you tell us the full story Rose. This isn’t just like sneaking out with your friends for a party, you actually went to another country!”

“I figured that much out for myself, thanks.” I said, as Mum put down a plate of baked beans and scrambled eggs in front of me. Dad’s fist came down onto the table hard.

“Damnit, Rose, why couldn’t you have just told us that Mae wanted to spend Christmas with her family, we could’ve taken you there ourselves.” Dad said. Now that I thought about it, that would’ve been the logical thing to do. Ah fuck, screw logic, I’m seventeen, not seventy.

“Can we drop it until after New Year?” I said, my mouth full of baked beans.

“Rose, I don’t think you realise the magnitude of the situation.” Mum said quietly, disappointment lacing her voice, which just made me feel worse about the whole situation. It was, in some ways, more horrible than Dad yelling his head off at me.

“Sure I do.” I said, swallowing.

“Well then you’ll know that you just broke the law.” Mum said, and I started to choke on my egg.

“Funny mum,” I said downing some orange juice to un-stick my throat, “But April fools isn’t for another three months.”

“I’m deadly serious Rose. You can’t apparate internationally without a license.” Mum said, still keeping her voice below a normal tone, but not low enough to be a whisper. It was as if the ministry was going to descend on our house any second and arrest me for apparating internationally without a licence.

“But that’s ridiculous!” I exclaimed, “I already have my apparition test _and_ I’m over seventeen, there is _nothing_ illegal about that…. Anyway, it was Mae that apparated, not me. I just went via side along.” I said.

“Does Mae have an international apparition licence?” Mum asked.

“I assume so,” I shrugged, “She said that she’d done it heaps of times before.”

Mum shot Dad a relieved look before turning to glare at me.

“Rose you’d better not do that again. You should’ve told us that Mae wanted to go to her sister’s place. I thought I could trust you.” Mum said, putting a plate of the same breakfast in front of Hugo, who dug into it greedily.

“It’s all those ‘ormones.” Hugo said immaturely, his mouth full of scrambled egg. I punched him forcefully in the arm.

“Shut up.” I spat, “You’re so immature.”

Hugo just grinned at me like an idiot. I swear that he cannot feel pain. You could kick him in the balls and he wouldn’t react. I waited until Dad had got up from the table with a resigned sigh before giving him the finger.

“Muuuuummmmm.” Hugo whined, and I punched him again.

“What are you, three?” I hissed, “Mum is way past the point of caring.”

He stuck his tongue out at me in response. Yeah, definitely three years old; I swear that he will _never_ grow up. I looked on in disgust as he shovelled the remainder of his breakfast down his throat in record time.

“Rose, Hurry up! I want to open my presents.” He said, banging his hand on the table.

“Go back to bed Hugo,” I snapped, “Maybe you’ll have grown up when you get back.”

“But I’m not tired.” He said in a particularly annoying voice that was probably just to annoy me.

“Grow up, Hugo. Are you fifteen or five?” Mum said, obviously she was getting annoyed by Hugo as well, “Just go and owl Louis and tell him that we’ll be at the Burrow around nine.”

“Fine,” Hugo said grumpily, his voice going back to its normal baritone tempo. You would never guess that he was gay. He trudged out of the room and up the stairs, he had also inherited Dad’s lankiness, and that doubled with being an adolescent boy caused him to duck as he went out of the door to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, mum.” I said sincerely after a few minutes of silence. “I shouldn’t have gone to Wales without telling you.”

“Thank you, Rose.” She said quietly, “I just wish Mae had told us that she wanted to.”

“She didn’t want you getting involved, said that it was a ‘family matter’” I said, drawing quotation marks in the air around the words _family matter_.

“I guess that’s fair enough… she went to stay with her sister, did you say?” Mum questioned.

“Yeah, Leah. She’s an auror undercover in the Cardiff Police… she doesn’t know why.” I said, putting the last mouthful of baked beans in my mouth. “She’ll be fine there until school starts. She said that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family, and she knows that her sister will accept that she’s gay, so she decided to go there.”

“I’m still angry at you, Rose.” Mum said, pointing her finger at me as she got up, “But I’ll let it slide because it’s Christmas.”

“Thanks Mum.” I said, giving her a hug, “Now, despite the fact that I act like presents don’t matter, I’m really looking forward to that book shaped package… shall we open our presents?”

~0~

“Oh god, Ella, you didn’t have to get me this!” I exclaimed about four hours later, holding up a beautiful sapphire necklace. “This must’ve cost at least forty galleons!”

“Oh quit thinking about the money.” Ella said, unwrapping a novel from Jade, “Just forget about the price tag for once and enjoy your presents.”

“Thank you so much!” I squealed, fastening it around my neck. “Now I feel bad about my present.”

“Don’t,” Ella smiled, “That’s also a thank you for everything you’ve done for me this past term.”

“You’re much too kind.”  I said, fingering it fondly.

“Not as kind as- Oh my goodness, Al, it’s beautiful!” Ella exclaimed, unwrapping a sparkling diamond necklace from my dear cousin. Hey, where the hell did he get the idea of _diamonds_ from? There is no way he would know that they meant business, so he’d either fluked it, or he’d gotten advice from Louis or Lysander, both of whom were girl magnets and knew the tricks of the trade better than they knew their schoolwork, which wasn’t saying much.

“Just for you my love,” He said, kissing her on the cheek quickly before fastening it around her neck.

“Quidditch!” James roared from the garden, causing a huge scramble towards the door in competition for who would be the first to get to the Nimbus 2012 that James had donated a few years back when his parents had got him a Nimbus 4000 for his birthday.

I rolled my eyes, hopefully this year they’d forget about me so that I could stay inside and read my new books... but of course, I had no such luck.

“You too Rosie!” James said, poking his head back through the door to check that we were all out in the yard.

“Fuck you James.” I grumbled, knowing that there was no way I was getting out of this now, “Fuck you very much.”

“Aww come on Rosie, it’ll be fun!” James said, picking up his Nimbus 4000 as we walked out to the broom shed to pick a broom.

“Of course,” I said sarcastically, “I can’t think of anything better to do than fly around the makeshift Quidditch pitch with my idiotic cousins and my best friend and her family while the adults egg us to push each other off of our brooms.” I picked up the only remaining broom, the old Cleensweep that had once belonged Uncle George and stomped away over to the field over the hedge where we held our annual Christmas Quidditch games.

“Why so serious, Rosie? Honestly, did you forget your humour at school?” he said chirpily.

“I left it in Wales more like.” I muttered under my breath, hoping that James didn’t hear, or it would lead to awkward questions.

“I’m picking the teams this year” Uncle Harry said, “That way nobody feels left out.” He winked pointedly at me; I was always the last to be picked for a team due to my lack of skills on a broomstick.

“Lucy, Roxanne, Dominique, James, Rose, Louis, Lily and Molly on team orange,” Uncle Harry said, casting a spell temporary spell which made our tops turn orange, “And Fred, Alice, Abi, Ella, Albus, Hugo, Frank and Victoire on team black.” He cast the same spell so that the rest of their tops turned black.

“That’s not fair!” James exclaimed, “they have _everyone_ whose ever played for their house team!”

“I know,” Uncle Harry grinned, “This should put you up to a challenge, shouldn’t it James.”

“Bring it!” James grinned as all sixteen of us mounted our brooms. Seeing as it was eight-a-side Quidditch, the rules differed slightly from normal Quidditch; Firstly, there were no contact rules at all, we were welcome to push each other off our brooms if we felt the need. It was pretty much a game of last man standing. Secondly, everyone could score, there really were no designated positions and Finally, there was no snitch, which meant that we were reduced to playing it like muggle football, with the rule of whichever team had more goals at the end of an hour won that year’s championship.

“Ready,” Uncle Harry called up to us, his whistle in his mouth and the Quaffle ready to throw into the air with the start of the game.

“Yes” we all chorused back as the whistle rang out shrilly and the Quaffle was thrown into the air. Literally everyone, with the exception of myself of course, dove down to try and get the quaffle for their teams, causing thirteen year old Molly and fifteen year old Frank to get bumped off of their brooms in the process. I guess it was lucky that we had a cushioning charm set up over the pitch, or there would’ve been a few trips to St Mungo’s.

“What the hell am I doing here?” I muttered to myself as James threw the Quaffle to Louis, narrowly missing my nose. I kept both of my hands on the handle of the broom, drifting slowly around the pitch, feeling like a tortoise in a room full of hares.

“Rose! Think fast!” Lily said, throwing the Quaffle at me. What the bloody hell did she do that for? She knows I can’t catch to save my life. I took my hands off the handle of the broom to protect my face and slipped clean off.

“Shit!” I yelled loudly as I fell ten, twenty, thirty feet back down to earth, only to be stopped by the cushioning charm when I was about two inches above the ground. “Lily when you fall off I am going to _kill_ you!” I yelled up at her as the Cushioning charm deposited me on the ground safely.

She hadn’t heard me. _This is the absolute last time I play Quidditch_ _with them_ I thought grumpily to myself as I joined Frank and Molly on the sidelines.

~0~

Christmas dinner was probably one of the most anticipated events on the Potter-Weasley-Longbottom calendar every year. Not only was it absolutely amazing, but it was a chance for us kids to see the adults get piss drunk and make up stories to tell them about what they did while in said state.

It was because of this reason that we always sent Molly up to bed first so that she wouldn’t have to witness these obscenities. Unfortunately, the ‘you’re too young’ excuse didn’t work anymore, so she insisted on staying up with the rest of us. Even I had to admit she was good at making up stories.

“How about we tell Uncle Ron that he danced on the table naked!” she grinned enthusiastically, “He’d go so red.”

“Nice one Molls!” Roxanne said, adding it to the list we were currently making in the corner, having finished our dinner about half an hour ago. The only reason that us seventeen-and-above-year-olds stayed sober (with the exception of Fred, James and Teddy) was to make up these stories and to play _Truth or Dare: Christmas Edition._

“Anything else?” Roxanne asked, consulting the list. We all shook our heads, completely out of new ideas. “Alright, so far we’ve got Uncle Bill making out with Aunt Hermione and vice versa. Aunt Fleur doing a striptease, Uncle Charlie doing a dragon impression, Uncle Percy grinding against Aunt Audrey, Dad groping Aunt Ginny thinking she was Mum, Mum doing an American-Indian dance around the fireplace, Uncle Ron dancing on the table naked, Uncle Harry confessing his undying love for Grandma Molly and Aunt Ginny shaking the Christmas tree looking for gnomes. Are we satisfied?”

“I’m so glad we’re not doing my parents this year,” Ella’s sister, Alice said, “That was embarrassing last year.”

“Aw come on Ally! It’s all good fun.” Frank said, punching his sister playfully on the arm. I looked over at the adults, who were all drunk with the exception of my mother, who was sipping champagne daintily out of a glass, of course she wasn’t drinking. She never did.

“Alright,” I said slyly, turning back to everyone, “We need to find a way to get mum on the firewhiskey. You up for the challenge?”

I was met with fifteen eager nods.

~0~

“Best Christmas _ever_ ” I said, collapsing onto my bed in Aunt Ginny’s old room. With five of us packed in here; Lily, Ella, Alice, Abi and myself, there was barely room to move.

“Oh man, why didn’t we record your mum on the firewhiskey?” Ella giggled, “That’s got to be the funniest thing I’ve seen in my seventeen years of being.

“What type of drunk do you reckon she is?” Lily asked, stifling a laugh in her pillow.

“Definitely happy girl drunk” I said, giving a small laugh. “James has got to be the funniest though.”

“God don’t remind me!” Abi said, putting her head in her hands at the memory of her boyfriend recounting their ‘first time’ while standing on the dining table.

“Never going to let you live that one down,” Alice grinned, looking at Ella with a mischievous grin.

“Thanks,” Abi said sarcastically, “Now the whole family knows about… _it_.”

“Yeah, that was something that we really didn’t need to know, Abi.” Ella said, miming throwing up by sticking her finger down her throat.

“Don’t worry, everyone was too drunk to remember, your parents won’t remember a thing, let alone James.” I reassured her.

“He is sleeping on the couch until New Year’s,” Abi said angrily, pulling the blankets of the camp bed over her body.

“Oh, I’m sure he is.” I said, reaching over to turn off the light. However, before I could flick the switch, I heard a soft tapping on the window. I looked up to see a barn owl with a letter attached to its foot.

Disgruntled at being pulled from the comfortableness of my bed, I got up and opened the window, letting the owl fly inside. To my surprise it dropped the letter on my bed and soared out again.

“Hostile.” Alice muttered to Abi, continuing the long standing game that they had, which classed every owl into one of three categories; hostile, friendly and impatient.

I sat back down on my bed and ripped it open, expecting to find a message from Rio, Jade or Mae. Instead, as I opened the envelope, a fresh rose blossom fell out, with an attached note;

_Here is a beautiful flower, love, for you on Christmas day, to remind you of that special time when our love was oh so young. See you at school. I love you._

_Scorpius_

I felt a smile creep over my face as I slipped the rose under my pillow and folded the letter up, trying to act like nothing had happened.

“Who was that from?” Ella questioned, her voice sounding sleepy.

“Mae.” I said a little too quickly, thankful that she was too tired to pick up on anything.

“Okay,” she muttered, “G’night, Rose.”

“Night Ella.” I said, reaching over and turning off the light, plunging the room into darkness. Only one thought in my mind and that was that had truly been an Extraordinary Merry Christmas.


	15. Marry You

“Rose, Lily, Molly?”

I rolled over in my camp bed, pulling the covers over my head as someone drew the blinds, letting the light in to pry my eyes open.

“Come on girls, it’s almost nine, The Longbottom’s are here already.” It was Aunt Audrey. The room immediately filled with groans and the rustling of blankets as Lily and Molly had almost certainly pulled theirs over their heads in an attempt to stay in darkness.

“Come on Molly, sweetheart.” Aunt Audrey said and I heard her pull the covers off Molly’s bed.

“Wha-, Mum give it back.” Molly whined sleepily.

“Whazzgoinon?” I heard Lily’s sleepy voice moan from the other side of the room.

“Lily, you and Rose especially need to get up, you need to have a shower and get ready!” Aunt Audrey exclaimed, tugging the blankets off me. _Oh, that’s right_ I thought as I buried my head in the pillow, _Victoire is getting married today. Shit_.

“I don’t wanna.” Lily whined as Aunt Audrey gave her the same treatment, “It’s warm in here Aunt Audrey.

“Up.” She said firmly, “The rest of the house is.”

“Bullshit.” Lily retorted, “Don’t try and tell me that James, Fred, Louis, Albus and Hugo are, because I know they’re not.”

“They will be in a few minutes,” Aunt Audrey said sharply, “Now go and have some breakfast; Victoire, Dominique, Lucy and Roxanne are waiting for you to get down and have breakfast so they can get ready. They said they don’t want to start without you two.

“Ugh.” I muttered, “Trust Vic to have five bloody bridesmaids, I’m going to freaking kill her after this wedding. A bloody purple dress, I don’t fucking think so.”

“Contrary to your beliefs, Rose,” Lily said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed as she got up, “you actually look good in dresses.”

“Ugh,” I repeated, pulling a sweatshirt on over my pyjamas as I grudgingly got out of bed. As I did so, my hand brushed over the rose that Scorpius had sent me at Christmas, it had surprised me that the rose had managed to last five days without water, but it was possible that Scorpius had put a special charm on it to preserve it for the flight here, and it was still working.

“I can’t wait for tonight.” Molly said excitedly, as we walked out of the door and down the first of four flights of stairs that lead to the Burrow’s kitchen, “It’s going to be so fun!”

I didn’t know how she was so energetic in the mornings, it still takes me at least an hour to wake up properly.

“Mmm,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes in a feeble attempt to wake myself up a little bit more.

“Oi, Rose.” A voice called from within the boy’s room on the third floor.

“What!” I yelled back irritably.

“Can you shut the fricken door?” yelled a voice that I now recognised as James’s from within. I peered into their room to see James, Louis and Fred all in various states of waking up, ranging from Louis trying to go back to sleep and Fred reaching across to shut the blinds that Aunt Audrey had unmistakeably opened when she’d gone in to wake them up.

“No,” I said, waving my wand at the blinds so that they opened fully and opened the window behind it, causing the snow that was falling outside to blow inside. “You can get off of your lazy arses and get the hell downstairs so we can start getting ready for the wedding.”

“Bugger off Rosie.” Louis muttered, “Don’t remind me.”

“Yeah,” I said, crossing my arms, “It’s your sister that’s getting married today and I’m sure she’s freaking out so get your arse out of bed and go and console her.”

Louis muttered something about that being Dominique’s job before conceding and getting up to vent his feelings by tossing his pillow at Fred.

“I’m getting married in bed,” Fred muttered, also dragging himself up, “Weddings are too much of a hassle.”

“Oh, sure you’ll get married in bed,” James said, adding a saucy wink to the statement, which immediately made it sound dirty.

“God James,” Lily exclaimed, “Get your mind out of the gutter, you haven’t even been up for five minutes.”

“For Godric’s sake!” I yelled, “just get the hell up and do what Grandma Molly tells you!”

Merlin, did I mention that my family is completely dysfunctional?

~0~

“Hey Rose!” Ella said cheerily as Molly, Lily and I arrived in the kitchen to find her and her siblings digging into breakfast which was lain out on the oversized table. I grumbled a greeting back, still not fully awake, earning an eye roll from Ella.

“Where’s James?” Abi asked, looking up the stairs eagerly, “I’ve missed him since Christmas, the apartment’s been empty.”

“Well duh!” Frank said, looking around for Hugo, who was probably still in bed. “You’re staying at home.” Abi shook her head at her younger brother before swinging a fist at his shoulder, which he dodged expertly.

Ella’s eyes lit up as she looked at something behind me. I turned to see Al and Hugo coming downstairs and immediately let out a sound of disgust as Ella flew past me to kiss Albus. They’d told their parents about their relationship once everyone had slept of their hangovers late on Boxing Day, and surprisingly, they had been waiting for the two of them to finally get with each other as well. Which reminds me, I still have to break the news to my parents about Scorpius and I… shit.

“Good to see you’ve finally decided to join us, James.” Abi said, getting up from the table and giving James a kiss on the cheek.

“Good morning.” James said, smiling and kissing her back.

“Please, no more PDA’s it’s sickening!” Roxanne said, rolling her eyes.

“Just ‘cause you can’t land a boyfriend.” James sneered, sitting down next to Abi and helping himself to toast. Roxanne threw her knife at him, he dodged it and it lodged into the wall behind him.

“Now, Roxy, we’ll have none of that.” Said Uncle George, sitting down at the head of the table, a seat that Aunt Hermione had been sitting in until a few minutes ago when she was called out into the garden to help set up the marquee, “Pass us the butter will you, Dom.” Dominique slid the butter down the table towards him. Uncle George was by far the coolest of the adults, with the exception of Teddy. I suspected that if I told him that I was dating ‘the enemies’ son, he would be the least pissed off. Not as much as Dad or Uncle Harry, but still pretty pissed. I could just picture the reactions now. ‘How could you betray us like this?’ ‘Weasleys and Malfoy’s just don’t mix!’

I missed Scorpius a lot, it was weird not having him there to teasingly insult my hair or put his arm around me when I lost my temper at him. For someone who I’d insulted since the tender age of eleven, he forgave me pretty easily when I screamed my head off at him when I was pissed.

“Seen Teddy anywhere?” Uncle Bill asked, wondering into the kitchen.

“Papa!” Victoire whined, “I told you not to scare him!”

“I didn’t,” Uncle Bill said, putting his hands up, “I wanted to ask him if he wants to dance straight after the ceremony is over or if we’re going to eat first.”

“He’s probably run away, doesn’t want to marry Vic anymore.” Dominique said with a small smirk. If looks could kill, Dom would be dead now as Victoire’s gaze shot daggers at her.

“Last I saw him he was going in for a shower.” Lucy offered kindly, in Victoire’s defence, “and judging by the fact that no one can get in there, he’s probably barricaded himself inside until the wedding.”

“Right,” Uncle Bill said, glancing at Victoire to see her shaking her head.

“No, Papa, get Maman to talk to him, you scare him too much.”

“Yeah, I’ll go get her.” Bill said, turning to walk out of the door and calling for Aunt Fleur as he went.

“Will you two shut up!?” Victoire exclaimed, throwing a bread roll in the direction of James and Fred, who were both snickering behind their hands at something that only those two could find funny.

“Thanks Vic!” James said, his hand flying out in front of his face and catching the rogue bread roll and stuffing it immaturely into his mouth. Victoire gave a snort of disgust and resumed her breakfast, clinking the spoon against the bowl of cereal as her hand shook.

“Nervous, Vic?” I voiced kindly, speaking up for the first time that morning.

“Yeah,” Victoire said, her voice shaking, causing Fred, James and this time Dominique as well.

“Honestly!” Victoire exclaimed, “What is so funny you three?”

Fred, James and Dominique continued to snigger, causing Ella, Roxanne and Lily, who were sitting near them to also start giggling. I looked back at Victoire with a confused expression on my face. Then I saw what the six of them were laughing at.  Uncle George was levitating the pot containing porridge into the air behind Victoire’s head, preparing to tip it over her clean strawberry blonde hair.

I immediately started to giggle along with the rest, causing Victoire to glare at us threateningly as the pot tipped towards her.

“When I find out what you’ve done to me, I will kill you.” Victoire said with a humph, resigning herself to the fact that James must’ve put something in her hair without her knowledge. I bit down hard on my finger as Uncle George released his control of the pot and dumped the whole contents on Victoire’s head, the metal pot dropping with a clang right next to her.

Molly shrieked with mirth as the porridge drenched Victoire, Dominique fell off her chair laughing, Fred was wheezing into Roxanne’s shoulder as she wiped tears of laughter out of her eyes while Ella, Lily, Louis, Lucy, Abi, Frank, Alice and I absolutely pissed ourselves with laughter.

The same could not be said for Victoire however. After she’d gotten over the shock of being doused in porridge at this time of the morning, she started to scream bloody murder, causing Grandma Molly, Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill to run in from the garden where they had started setting up the marquee.

“What’s happened?” Bill said, running into the kitchen and surveying all of us bar Victoire laughing. His eyes fell on his daughter, who had lapsed into tears.

“What the hell?” he said through gritted teeth, rushing over to Victoire and starting to wipe at her face with a napkin.

“All in a day’s work, Bill” George smiled, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes.

“Bloody hell, George .She. Is. Getting. Married. Today.” Bill said; enunciating every word slowly, anger creeping into his voice. George shrugged as Grandma Molly hit him quite forcefully over the head with her hand.

“You complete idiot.” She exclaimed, glaring at her son as all of us kids tried to stifle our laughter. She shot us a look that said _laugh and I will decapitate you_.

“ _Allons-y,_ Victoire, we will get you washed off.” Aunt Fleur said, putting a hand in the small of Victoire’s back and guiding her out of the room.

“For that, I am putting you on dish duty.” Grandma Molly said angrily. Uncle George’s mouth fell open in an expression of disbelief at his punishment. Fred snorted with laughter ever so quietly, but that was all that it took to get Grandma Molly to rouse on us too. “And as for the rest of you,” she spat disgustedly, “With the exception of Rose, Dominique, Roxanne, Lily, Lucy and Louis, the rest of you will come outside and help put up the marquee, those of you who cannot perform magic will decorate the cakes by hand.”

There was a collective groan from around the table, but no one dared challenge Grandma Molly’s final word. Uncle George continued to snicker as we all filed out to do our various assigned jobs. He would get his comeuppance later; dish duty was always the worst.

James, Fred, Albus, Alice, Ella and Abi reluctantly got up from the table under Grandma Molly’s fierce glare and trailed outside.

As soon as the adults, bar Uncle George were out of earshot everyone burst out laughing.

“Nice one Uncle George!” I said, leaning over the table to slap him a high five. “I think that one makes the book, what do you think, Roxy?” I said, looking over at Roxanne, who was the keeper of the ‘Best Pranks pulled at festive celebrations’ book. So far, the top spot was held by Hugo and his prank back in fifth year – my fifth year that is, his third – when he decided to stick the furniture to the roof of the kitchen by hand. I’ll never forget the adult’s faces when they walked in for breakfast the next morning… absolutely priceless.

“I think so.” Roxy said, “Spot number three, what do you reckon, Dad?” Roxy said, looking over at her father.

“Three?” He said incredulously, “I’m not saying it’s better that Hugo’s furniture prank, but sure it’s better than James and Fred’s apple landslide.”

He was referring, of course to Last year’s prank, when Fred and James had filled every cupboard in the house with apples.

“You get marked down because it was mean.” Roxy said, taking a bite of her bacon.

“Fair enough,” Uncle George shrugged before turning as white as paper as Aunt Fleur entered the room. She shot him a glare before turning to the rest of us.

“Dominique, Roxanne, Lucy, Rose and Lily, it is time to get ready.” She said, beckoning us towards her. Lucy, Roxanne and Lily jumped up eagerly, while Dom and I grumbled at having to get back into the purple ‘straightjacket’ as we had nicknamed it.

“See you on the ice,” I muttered to Molly, who was condemned to decorating the cakes for the guests for the rest of the morning. I reluctantly followed Dom and Roxy out of the room and up the stairs into the room that Lucy, Roxanne and Dominique shared, which would serve as the ‘salon’ where we would get ready.

“Victoire will be with us in a second.” She said disapprovingly, “she is just washing ‘er ‘air.”

Lucy giggled softly and smiles immediately appeared on all of our faces. Aunt Fleur pretended not to hear as she handed Dom, Roxy, Lucy, Lily and I our bridesmaids dresses. They were quite pretty – a strapless deep purple dress that came to just above my knee – but it looked horrible when I put it on.

“Put these on, and then Audrey and I will do your makeup.” Aunt Fleur said, sending Lucy into the bathroom first. Dom and I groaned. _Makeup_ , really, I am going to kill Victoire! First she makes me wear a ridiculous dress to be her bloody bridesmaid, and now she’s forcing me to put on makeup! Worst New Year’s Eve ever!

Lucy emerged a few minutes later looking absolutely stunning, at least Purple was her colour.

“Rose, you next” Aunt Fleur said, gesturing for me to go inside. Reluctantly, I obeyed, half hoping that the dress was too small for me to fit into so that I’d be spared the horror of having to walk down the aisle in it. Unfortunately, I had no such luck, the bloody dress actually _adjusted_ to my size. Fuck, shit, crap!

“Rose!” Roxy called through the door, “What’s taking you so long?”

“Uh…” I said, surveying myself in the mirror, resigning myself to the fact that I was going to be a laughing stock. Fuck, why did I let Victoire talk me into this! “I’ll be out in a sec.”

“Hurry up! Lucy’s makeup is almost done, you’re holding up the production line.”

Of course, fucking makeup is next. When I get married I am going to wear jeans and a flipping T-shirt just so I don’t have to go through this hassle. I pushed open the bathroom door nervously, keeping my head down, preparing for the laughter.

“Oh my gosh, Rose you look amazing!” Lucy said as Roxy pushed past me into the bathroom.

“Don’t lie.” I said, sitting down next to Aunt Audrey and the makeup of death, “I know I look horrible.”

“Rose, for heaven’s sake, stop putting yourself down,” Lily exclaimed, “You look beautiful!”

 _Just keep telling yourself that, Lily_.  I thought, _Just keep telling yourself that._

~0~

“You all look beautiful!” Aunt Fleur said, clapping her hands together as soon as Aunt Angelina had finished braiding our hair in identical styles, “Are you ready for Victoire to see you?”

“Yes!” We all said eagerly, wanting to see the mysterious dress that Victoire had been keeping a secret since May. Aunt Fleur poked her head out of the door and beckoned for Victoire to come in.

If I thought that the bridesmaids looked beautiful, it was nothing compared to Victoire. She was  absolutely stunning in a long, elegant, but simple white dress. Her strawberry blonde hair was twisted up into a bun with a veil attached to it.

“Oh. My. God.” Lily said, her jaw dropping open, “Vic, you had to go and make all of our efforts look bad, didn’t you?”

“You look beautiful Victoire!” Roxy said, “Teddy is going to love it!”

A sudden babble of chatter from the yard caught our attention. Dom rushed over to the window and peered out.

“The guests are here, c’mon, Rose, we’d better go and direct people.” she said

“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” Aunt Angelina said, “I had Ella and Alice take over your roles so you don’t have to do anything that will get your dress dirty before the ceremony.”

Great, so now I’m stuck in a room with Victoire for half an hour… the one person that I want to kill right now. You know, life, while you’re at it, why don’t you throw something else at me! I’m sure I can take it… for a while… then I strangle the nearest person.

~0~

“Let’s run through one more time.” Uncle Bill said as we stood at the back of the marquee, waiting for the music to play so that we could start walking down the aisle.

“Yeah, we know, Dad.” Dom said exasperatedly, “Lily, Rose, Me, Lucy, Roxy, Louis you and Vic.”

“Good…” Uncle Bill said nervously, “Just making sure.”

My hands were starting to sweat around my bouquet of flowers as I saw the band readying themselves for playing. I shivered, unfortunately, the heating charm that had been placed on the marquee didn’t extend to as far as we were, and despite the fact that it wasn’t snowing or raining at the moment, it was still quite cold, and that and a strapless dress don’t mix at all.

“Good luck!” I whispered to Lily as the music started to play and she entered the marquee. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Victoire’s hands start to shake as I counted down in my head for when I would enter.

 _Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One._ Holy shit I missed my cue. Dom gave me a small push from behind as I hitched a smile onto my face and stumbled through the entrance to the marquee.

The first thing that came to mind was how many goddamn people there were! I didn’t even know Victoire knew this many, it seemed like half of England was there. Second, why the hell are they all staring at me? Do I honestly look that bad? Jeez, that jeans and a t-shirt idea is looking very friendly for my wedding right now.

Thank god I was the second bridesmaid to enter, because If Lily hadn’t been in front of me to show me where to walk, I would’ve stuffed up big time, having not been listening when Aunt Fleur told us where to go. I followed Lily’s footsteps to the side of the podium where I turned to see Dom and Lucy walking down the aisle and Roxy just entering. Honestly, could they go any slower?

Dom arrived beside me a few seconds later as Louis entered the marquee, carrying the two rings that would bond Victoire and Teddy for life.

I caught Teddy’s eye and gave him an encouraging smile just as Victoire walked through the entrance to the marquee. His mouth dropped open in shock and awe as Lucy arrived next to Dom.

Louis was looking at the best man nervously, as if he was going to tear his throuat out or something. Teddy’s best man was his friend of twenty years, Phoenix Jones, whom I had only ever met once in my entire life when he came to the Burrow for Easter a few years back.

Roxy reached the end of the aisle and moved to stand next to Lucy, Dom and I. All eyes were now on Victoire as she and Uncle Bill walked down the aisle. Vic was smiling so widely I was sure that it was going to spread off of her face. Uncle Bill looked the happiest that I’d seen him around Teddy in a while.

Okay, I’ve changed my mind, I will go to all these lengths when I get married, it’d be worth it just to see Dad smile at whoever my future husband was going to be… I hoped it was Scorpius.

Rose Malfoy… I went over the name in my head. It didn’t have any sort of ring to it, good or bad. I tried not to think of this as a negative sign to our relationship, but more of a reason to keep my name after I married. I looked at the audience to see Ella and her siblings sat in the second row, I waved slightly to acknowledge that I’d seen them.

After Uncle Bill had handed Vic over to Teddy we were asked to sit down, well… the audience was asked to sit down, unfortunately one of the requirements of bridesmaid-ism is to remain standing while the bride and groom take their vows. As the priest started to talk, my mind immediately started shifting to my jeans and a t-shirt idea again. I mean what’s with all the shit at the beginning? Come on man, skip to the ‘I do’s’ already, High Heels don’t agree with my feet at the moment.

No such luck. I tuned out, I couldn’t hear half of what the old guy was saying anyway.

“Victoire Apolline, do you take Theodore Remus to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?” the priest said, after what seemed like hours of blabbering on about random stuff that didn’t matter to me. Finally, we were getting to the good stuff.

“I do.” Vic said, smiling up at Teddy with the radiance that only she could have, and slipping the wedding ring supplied by Louis onto Teddy’s finger

“Theodore Remus, do you take Victoire Apolline to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.” Teddy repeated sliding a ring onto Victoire’s finger, smiling widely as he did so.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife and bonded for life, you may kiss the bride.” He said to Teddy. The look on Teddy’s face was one of love as he lifted Victoire’s veil away from her face and gently cupped her chin in his hands as he kissed her. The child safe fireworks that Fred and Uncle George had set up around the podium earlier went off, forming a heart and showering the newlyweds in pink sparks.

I clapped along with the rest of the guests smiling as Teddy took Victoire’s arm and lead her back down the aisle, followed by Phoenix and Louis, then us. I was so close to getting out! Not only did I really need to go to the toilet, but that was honestly the most boring experience of my life. I know weddings are supposed to be fun and happy, but that part doesn’t come until later, when everyone gets drunk and dances with people ten years older than them. _That_ is the fun bit, not the actual wedding ceremony.

“Congratulations Mrs Lupin.” I said, giving Vic a hug as soon as we exited the marquee. Someone had set up an extra heating charm for the outhouse that we had started in, because it was _not_ this warm when I was in here last.

“Thanks Rosie,” she smiled, “Gosh that was amazing! Thank you all so much!” she said, giving us all a hug in turn, before retreating back into Teddy’s arms.

“So, Theodore,” a voice said from behind us, “You’re a member of the family now.”

Teddy turned pale as Uncle Bill joined us. I took this moment to slip away back to the house to take of the heels and put on some flat ballet shoes or something of the sort. This is the absolute last time I wear heels.

I wrapped my arms around myself as I ran, as best as I could in heels and over the snow, back to the house. I was thankful that no one could see me, because I must’ve looked absolutely ridiculous.

“Rose!” A voice called, _damnit_ I spoke too soon. I turned around to see none other than Scorpius Malfoy walking across the snow towards me… whoa, what? Scorpius is here… Oh! Scorpius is here, yes, that’s a good thing! Ugh, I haven’t had enough sleep in the past few days.

“Scorpius!” I said joyfully, my reaction to his being her taking effect, “What are you doing here, I don’t remember the Malfoy’s being on the guest list.”

“We’re not,” Scorpius said with a smile, embracing me as I ran towards him, “I came to see you, to say Happy New Year.”

“Well your timing is a bit off, there’s still another nine or so hours until New Year.” I joked.

“Well I’m not going to be there then, am I. My parents are keeping me pretty much under house arrest, It makes me think that someone tipped them off about us.” Scorpius said, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

“So you haven’t told them?” I asked, looking up at him.

“No,” he replied, “have you?”

I shook my head, “I was planning on telling them after New Year, so that they wouldn’t have their good moods ruined.”

“Good idea.” Scorpius said, as his watch started to beep. “Damnit, Rose I’ve got to go, my parents just apparated back into the house and my mum will be checking my room in about hmm… forty seconds?”

He broke off our hug and started to walk away. I followed him.

“Wait!” I said, running to catch up to him, “Don’t I get a kiss goodbye?”

“Of course you do.” Scorpius said, bending down and pressing his lips to mine. The same tingles that I got whenever our fingers brushed went down my spine as he deepened the kiss.

“Rose!” a voice said and Scorpius and I broke apart abruptly to see Uncle George standing  a few feet away, he had probably been going back to the house to get something.

“Uh… Hi Uncle George.” I stammered, stepping away from Scorpius.

A mischievous grin spread across Uncle George’s face, “Somebody’s in trouble.” He said in a sing song voice as he turned around and walked back into the marquee.

Oh shit.


	16. Firework

Oh shit this is bad, this extremely very not good.

"Rose, I've really got to go." He said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. I reluctantly let him leave my arms.

"I guess I'm going to be telling them sometime in the next twenty-four hours then…" I said as Scorpius walked over to the trees behind the marquee where he could disapparate beyond the protective charms of the burrow. "Promise me you will too?"

"Rose…" Scorpius said, turning around and looking at me with a look in his eye that I'd never seen before. It was fear. Of what, I didn't know for sure, but I had a niggling feeling that it was of his parents, only because I was shit scared of my parents' reaction as well.

"Please," I said softly as he looked around at the trees where he could disapparated, as he looked back at me a smile crept across his face as he walked backwards into the trees.

"See you in hell." He said before disapparating with a small pop. I let my breath out in a whoosh, hoping that I had assumed correctly and he was going to 'see me in hell' because we were going to die when we told our parents about our relationship. Well, I was ninety nine percent sure that I was going to die, there was always that shiny glimmer of hope that might see me live through this. I could only hope that it would happen.

Damnit! Why did the git have to come here to see me for New Years, I wouldn't be in this situation otherwise, neither of us would be.

"Rose, what the hell are you doing out here?" I heard Ella call from behind me.

"Nothing." I said, turning around hurriedly to look at her, trying to cover up the fact that I'd been staring into the trees. Realisation dawned on Ella's face.

"He was here, wasn't he? You've got that look in your eye." She said slyly. Holy shit this girl knows me way too well.

"Damnit Ella!" I exclaimed, kicking the snow as I started to shiver again, now that I wasn't wrapped in Scorpius' warm embrace, "Stop reading my goddamn mind."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Well, It was either that or you were contemplating running away, lucky guess."

I shot her an annoyed look.

"So," she said, rubbing her arms to keep herself warm, "What did mister perfect want?"

"To tell me Happy New Year" I said shortly as my teeth started to chatter, "Can we go inside, it's freezing out here."

"Best idea you've had this holiday." Ella said, turning back towards the marquee before she'd even finished her sentence. I unstuck my heels out of the snow, with difficulty, might I add and attempted to follow her without falling over.

"Fuck." I muttered as I stumbled into Ella, who wasn't wearing heels, (another reason for me to kill Victoire later) ballet flats were so much more practical.

"Take them off, Rose." Ella laughed, grabbing my arm and steadying me on my feet.

"Do you want to walk barefoot in the snow?" I said, walking with ridiculously large steps back over to the marquee.

"Fair point," Ella said, hurrying after me, "So, want to tell me why your Uncle George looked so happy when he walked back into the festivities?"

Damn it all. I hate him. It's official.

Ella was looking at me with one of her eyebrows slightly raised.

"He caught us kissing." I mumbled under my breath, hoping that Ella wouldn't hear me. However, it appeared that she had because a few seconds later she was laughing her head off at me.

"Shut up." I whined, aiming a kick in her direction.

"Rose, you do realise that you're going to have to tell your parents tonight, because knowing your Uncle, everyone will know and believe it first thing tomorrow morning." Ella laughed.

"I hate the world." I grumbled, why? Why did Uncle George have to find us kissing? Why did he have to be such a motherfucking douchebag and go around hinting it to everyone with his stupid mischievous smile? Why do my family hate the Malfoy's so much? Why? Why? Why?! This is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. But with my luck, my romantic life just _has_ to be that much more damn complicated than everyone else's.

* * *

"Hey Rosie" Uncle George said later that night as I watched Molly and Roxanne play exploding snap on the floor of the living room.

"Hi Uncle George" I muttered, feeling my cheeks grow hot as I kept my eyes trained on the cards in between Molly and Roxanne. He had been doing this to me all day, ever since the guests from the wedding had left.

I made the mistake of looking up at him at the last second before he turned away. He winked at me as if to say _I know your secret_. Merlin, I have never wanted to kill someone more in my life… with the exception of Victoire and those damn bridesmaid dresses.

"You okay, Rose?" Roxy asked me, "You're all red."

"Fine" I muttered, putting both hands to my cheeks to feel them, "I'm just going to go and get ready for later." I said, standing up and rushing towards the stairs to save any more embarrassment.

Upon reaching the room that I was sharing with Molly and Lily I locked the door behind me and threw myself onto my bed, taking deep, calming breaths to calm myself down.

The clock on the nightstand told me that it was eight o'clock at night. Dinner would be in half an hour and then after that we would commence truth or dare at about ten. How the hell was I going to bring up the topic of me dating Scorpius in two hours?

Well, it was either I tell them or Uncle George does, and I would much rather I do it, so Dad doesn't have another excuse to kill me for not telling him myself. I swear I'm going to go prematurely grey if I keep stressing myself out like this. I need Scorpius, he'd know what to do in this situation.

Kill me now. Please?

"Rose, are you in there?"

Damnit Ella, just leave me alone.

"Maybe" I mumbled into my pillow, wishing that she'd go away so that I could formulate a plan to tell my parents about Scorpius and I without getting my head ripped off.

"Let me in." Ella said, and I heard the doorhandle rattling as she tried to force entry.

"No." I said back, sounding awfully like a cranky child who hadn't gotten their own way in an argument.

"Fine, you asked for it." Ella said through the door and seconds later the door clicked open and she stepped into the room.

"You're being terribly antisocial, you know." Ella said sitting down next to me on my bed. I rolled over onto my back to look up at her.

"I'm screwed." I said glumly.

"No, none of that," Ella scolded, "I want to hear you upbeat."

"I'm screwed!" I said in a happy tone, as if being screwed was a good thing.

"There you go." Ella said, smiling at me as I sat up.

"Seriously, Ella, If I don't tell mum and dad tonight, Uncle George will tell them tomorrow and I will be doubly dead if that happens." I said, hiding my face in my hands.

"So tell them." Ella shrugged, "The worst they can do is yell right?"

"No, not right." I said, "You forget that they're fine with you and Albus because your dad _knows_ Albus. Not only does my dad not know the first thing about Scorpius, but he hates the bloke's father!"

Ella pulled a face at me that I interpreted as _shit that sucks_.

"Now you see my dilemma?" I asked, wondering if it was possible to suffocate myself with my pillow.

"Well, at least Scorpius will be in the same situation." Ella tried, "His parents will be no more okay than this than yours are."

"Yes, but what if they forbid us from seeing each other?" I said, my eyes widening in horror at the thought.

"Didn't stop Abi from seeing James, did it?" Ella said.

"True," I said slowly, thinking over how they wouldn't be able to keep us apart at Hogwarts. Okay it'd be easy to keep track of us, what with five meddling cousins at the school, plus my brother who wouldn't hesitate to let mum and dad know if Scorpius and I saw each other. Why didn't people tell me that dating would be so hard! Well, I guess that's what you get when you fall for Scorpius Malfoy who happens to be the son of the arch nemesis of my family. Yeah, I'm totally going to live through this year.

* * *

New Year's Eve, like Christmas, was another widely anticipated event on the Weasley/Potter/Longbottom calendar. Like at Christmas, everyone got drunk and did stupid things (it was much more fun on New Year's though) but all of us kids, since the tender age of six had all been playing Truth or Dare late into the night. It had started off innocent, like daring someone to take a cake from the kitchen and see whether the adults would notice in the morning or not or asking if anyone fancied anyone or not. Then as we got older they progressed to more wild and dangerous things, like scaling the roof of the Burrow or asking someone if they were a virgin. Finally, as most of us entered our late teens it progressed to completely embarrassing or stupid dares, like the highlight of last year when James streaked into the nearest muggle suburb and got arrested by the muggle Police. We had to use most of Lucy's muggle money to get him out, but it was totally worth it. The truths had progressed into things like asking what the best shag someone had had, something that thirteen year old Molly didn't need to hear. It was a wonder that the adults didn't know about it yet. Either that or they couldn't be bothered to tell us to go to bed.

So, after dinner all fifteen of us headed up to the attic bedroom that Dominique, Victoire and Lucy all shared. It wasn't ideal for a game of truth or dare, but it was the only place that the adults weren't going to hear us if we got too rowdy, also it was Victoire that started the tradition, so we weren't going to deny her the hosting of it were we?

As soon as we were all in there I immediately felt a mixture of relief; Relief because Uncle George seemed to have forgotten about finding Scorpius and I snogging after the wedding, because he didn't mention it at all and normally he would've subtly mentioned it, forcing me to spit it out sooner rather than later

"Alright then, shall we start?" James called, and was answered with a resounding 'yes'

"I'll start then!" James said, surveying everyone intently before settling on the poor soul who would be his victim, "Hugo! Truth or dare?"

Hugo groaned, "Truth," He said quickly, knowing what James' dares were like.

"Alright, are you still a lip virgin?"

"I've never kissed anyone, if that's what you mean." Hugo said embarrassedly.

"You're boring," James whined, throwing a stray sock at him, "Okay, your turn."

Hugo looked around the room for someone to pick on, "Fred, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Fred said eagerly leaning forward.

"Okay…" Hugo pondered for a while, "Describe someone in the group in less than ten words and we have to guess who you're describing?"

"Boring!" James exclaimed, "But seriously Fred, do it."

A mischievous grin came across Fred's face, the same one that his father had been smiling for the majority of the day, shit I feel sorry for the person who gets described.

"Red hair, fiery temper, lunatic, psychotic, library book nazi-" he was cut off as everyone shouted "Rose"

"Thanks Fred," I snorted, adding him to my mental 'kill' list.

"My turn!" Fred grinned before turning to Albus, "Al, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Al said warily.

"Boring" James stated again, "honestly, can we get some good dares?"

"Okay, bringing back the favourite from last year, who's your best shag been or are you still a virgin?" Fred said as James slapped him a high five.

Albus looked at the floor and shifted uncomfortably.

"Spit it out Albus!" James asked.

"Um…" Al said, looking mortified.

"Holy shit, you're not a virgin anymore are you?" I said, my eyes widening in realisation, wondering who the hell he could've lost it to if it wasn't Ella, because she would've told me if she had. I looked across at Ella to find her looking almost as awkward as Albus. Oh hell no, there was no way they could've done it already!

"No." I said, looking from Albus to Ella and back again, "Al, tell me it's not true."

Albus fiddled with a loose thread in the carpet, "It's true." He breathed.

"Alright!" Fred announced, catching on to what I was thinking, "Albus' best shag was Ella!"

"Fucking hell" Albus said, hiding his head in his hands, "Can you say it any louder?"

"Sure, if it so pleases you." Fred said, taking a deep breath before Roxy put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Fine then," Fred grumbled, "Who do you choose Al?"

"James." Al muttered, his face still in his hands.

"Dare!"

"Kiss the person next to you." James looked to his left to see Fred and then to his right to see Abi.

"Gladly" he said, leaning over and planting a kiss on his girlfriend's lips.

"Damn," Albus said, looking up, "Didn't think that one through did I?"

"My turn again!" James said, looking around the circle, "Lucy! Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Lucy grinned. She's brave, incredibly so. James' dares are always completely outrageous. James thought about it for a second before saying.

"Put whipped cream in your mum's bed."

"Consider it done." Lucy grinned, getting up and sneaking out of the room. As soon as her dressing gown had whipped out of sight around the door the rest of us got up to follow her.

We could hear the babble of chatter from the adults back downstairs, thankfully the putting of the whipped cream in the bed would be easy, it was the getting hold of the whipped cream that was the hard part.

"Got it," Lucy said, arriving breathlessly back up on the landing of the second floor, "It was in the pantry not the dining room so it was easy." Okay, maybe not so hard for Lucy, but if you're a klutz like me it _is_ hard to get it out of the pantry without knocking the majority of things over.

She walked into the room that Aunt Audrey and Uncle Percy shared when they were here, pulled back the duvet and started to spray it all over the bed, covering it in a thick layer of fluffy white cream which would greet her parents when they came to bed that night.

"Done," Lucy said, "Dare complete."

"Well done, Luce." James said, nodding, "I'm impressed."

"Wait," Lucy said as we started to head back up the stairs, "I dare Molly to scare the adults somehow."

"Hey, I didn't choose!" Molly said angrily, looking up at her older sister.

"You always choose dare anyway."

"Fair point, and I have a really good idea for this too." Molly said, "Give me a second." And with that, she rushed back into Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey's bedroom and climbed out the window. Is she crazy?

"Oh my gosh she's going to do the 'dead body slapping against the window'" Lucy said, "We've got to see this; it's the scariest thing, honestly." Lucy turned and quietly tiptoed back down the stairs. I shrugged at everyone else and followed her, crouching at the base of the stairs where we had a full view of the kitchen.

"Watch that window." Lucy breathed, pointing to the one right at the head of the table. I hoped that the adults didn't look our way at all or we would all be sent to bed without being able to count down to midnight.

I watched the window that Lucy had told me to watch intently, which, admittedly probably wasn't the best idea as when Molly's seemingly lifeless body slammed against it loudly I screamed, out loud. I immediately clapped a hand to my mouth as all of the adults recovered from their shock.

"Bloody hell, what was that?" dad said as mum dabbed at her top with a wet serviette, having spilt her wine over herself.

"Rose!" Aunt Audrey said, looking over at us, obviously her attention was caught by the fact that I had screamed a few seconds ago.

"Shit," I said turning around and attempting to run back up the stairs

"Rose Minerva Weasley!" Mum called and I froze on the spot, the middle name had come out, I was in deep shit now. I turned around slowly, "What do you think you're doing?"

"N-nothing." I muttered, looking at my cousins for support.

"Well, seeing as you're doing nothing, you can all come and join us for the countdown, it's in a few minutes."

"Uh sure…" I said shooting an apologetic look at the rest as I walked back down the stairs. There goes our game of truth or dare… Reluctantly everyone else followed me back into the dining room. Uncle George had rigged up some fancy lights and large balloons that made up the number 2025 were hanging from the ceiling.

"Where's Molly?" Aunt Audrey asked, looking around for her youngest daughter. I looked at Lucy hesitantly, wondering if we should say something about her being the one that banged into the window.

"Here," Molly said happily, walking down from upstairs, "I had to use the bathroom."

I let out a sigh of relief, wondering how the hell she'd managed to climb back up into the second floor window from the ground outside.

I plonked myself down on a wooden chair around the table and started to pick at some of the cold remnants of some chicken. Dinner had seemed like hours ago. I looked up at the clock, which showed that it was two minutes to twelve. My eyelids immediately started to droop as I realised how late it was. Well, at least there's only two minutes or so for me to stay awake.

"What were you guys doing upstairs anyway?" Aunt Angelina asked.

"Nothing." We all said in unison, there was no way that we needed the adults to know about our annual games of truth or dare, they'd want to join in as well, and that wouldn't be nearly as fun.

"Ready?" Dad said, keeping his eye trained on the clock as the second hand reached twenty seconds to go. I hastily scooted over to sit closer to Dom, who was sitting to my left as I didn't want to be left out of the group hug like last year.

The second hand struck ten seconds to go and everyone immediately started counting down from ten.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Confetti rained down from the ceiling and fireworks, no doubtedly set up by Uncle George went off, showering us all in multi-coloured sparks. Everyone converged into a massive hug.

The only thing that I felt was missing was Scorpius

* * *

"I think Rose has an announcement to make." Uncle George said half way through Breakfast the next day. My blood ran cold and I felt myself sit up straighter in my seat. I honestly just wanted to disappear into the ground or kill Uncle George right now, either one would suffice.

All eyes turned to me as Uncle George gave me another wink. I surveyed the faces of everyone on the table.

Albus and Ella had concentrated expressions on their faces, almost as if they were trying to manipulate my brain into blurting out what they knew I was keeping a secret then and there. Everyone else, bar Uncle George, was looking at me expectantly. Well shit. I guess I've got no choice now.

"Uhh.." I said, feeling small under everyone else's gaze. I had not banked on telling the whole goddamn family! Oh shit this is extremely very not good.

"Spit it out Rose," James said from the opposite end of the table, where Abi was feeding him mashed potatoes.

"I – I wasn't going to say this now…" I started, fidgeting nervously with the tablecloth, "but… uh I just wanted to say that I've started dating someone." _Shit Rose, why the hell did you tell them that!_ I screamed internally at myself _you should've made something up on the spot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!_ Well, there's no backing out now, I'm absolutely and irrevocably screwed.

"Who?" everyone shouted almost in unison, it was kind of creepy actually…

"Uhh…" I hesitated, it was the moment of truth… the moment of my doom. Holy shit I have a big family. It's strange that you only realise what you have as soon as you don't want it. Fuck.

"Come on Rose, you tell them or I will." Uncle George said, smiling at me with that same horrible knowing smile that he'd been wearing since he'd caught me snogging Scorpius yesterday.

I shot him a look that said _say a word and I will kill you_. He just smiled. Damn I wanted to kill him so badly right then.

"I just want to say that he's not as bad as you might immediately think."

"Come on Rosie, who's the lucky guy?" Louis asked, obviously he was too caught up in his current girlfriend of the month to notice Scorpius and I on our last Hogsmeade date.

"His name is Scorpius." I said, my heart hammering at a hundred miles an hour. Silence. Absolute silence.

"Rose, please tell me that there is another Scorpius at Hogwarts and you're not dating the Scorpius that I'm thinking of." Dad said, closing his eyes as if he could escape the horror of finding out that his daughter was dating his arch enemy's son.

"Nope." I said, popping the 'P' "Only one Scorpius in those walls."

"Oh hell no!" Dad said, his eyes flying open as he stood up and slammed his fist down on the table, "I'll let you off for going to Wales in the middle of the night but there is absolutely no way you are dating that arsehole's son!"

I looked at Ella who mouthed, "you went to Wales in the middle of the night?" at me. I shrugged back at her, giving her the _I'll tell you later_ face.

"Rose, you are getting out of control! When mum and I told you that you should start going out with someone, we didn't mean someone of the Slytherin variety!" Dad yelled. Shit, I didn't know he was going to fly this far off the handle.

"He's not his father, Dad!" I yelled back, "You can't judge him on the events that happened over twenty five years ago!"

"Sure I can!" Dad yelled, a vein in his temple threatening to pop with pressure, "Those Malfoy's, they're all the same! All of them are arseholes who only marry for blood, don't fool yourself Rosie!"

"Scorpius isn't like that! He's sweet and nice, he cares about me!" I screamed back, feeling tears springing to my eyes. _Fucking hell you are so not crying._ I thought as I bit my lip.

"He doesn't! He's using you!" Dad bellowed across the table, showering those nearest him in spit. "In fact, I ban you from seeing that boy ever again! Do you understand?"

"No!" I yelled back," I most certainly don't understand! I love Scorpius and Scorpius loves me, why can't you accept that!?"

"Because the bastard is using you and you will never be happy with him!"

"I'm seventeen now Dad, you don't control my life!"

"Fine then, don't come home with us tomorrow." Dad yelled, breathing heavily. The words on the tip of my tongue faded away like bubbles in soap. Shit. Dad didn't just kick me out of the house did he?

"Ron," mum whispered, "You've taken this too far."

"No," Dad said firmly, "If she doesn't want me to control her anymore then she needs to fend for herself."

"Dad" I breathed in disbelief.

"I'm serious Rose! You either don't come home with us tomorrow or you stop dating this Scorpius boy." Dad roared. The table was silent. I looked around at everyone, nobody was laughing, not even Uncle George.

"You're such a fucking bastard I hope you know that dad!" I yelled, releasing all of my pent up angst, "You're my father, you're supposed to accept my decisions! Not kick me out of the house because of them!"

"Ron, mate, calm down, let's go and talk in the kitchen." Uncle Harry said, grabbing Dad's upper arm and forcibly dragging him towards the kitchen and shutting the door behind him.

I took another look at everyone sitting at the table and had to abandon ship. I sprinted out of the kitchen and up the stairs to my room, letting the tears flow down my face as I slammed the door shut behind me and flung myself onto my bed, hoping beyond hope that it was possible to suffocate myself with my pillow.


	17. I Just Can't Stop Loving You

So all in all it wasn't the best New Year's Day I'd ever had.

Okay, so it was the _worst_ New Year's Day that I'd ever had. I wasn't sure whether I was still allowed in my house, I didn't know if my father would ever speak to me again, I didn't know whether mum or Uncle Harry could talk any sense into him when he was this mad.

 _In, out, in, out_.

I thought to myself, my face still buried in the pillow. I was determined to suffocate myself before Dad got to me. So far it wasn't working, my face was just getting really hot and my breath smelled horrible.

 _What a wonderful way to die_ , I thought, _getting suffocated by your own breath, classy Rose._

"Rosie." A voice said nervously from outside the door. Bloody hell Ella! Stop coming to comfort me. "Can I come in?"

Hang on, that wasn't Ella. She would never ask to come into the room; she'd just barge on in after announcing her presence and force me to talk to her. No, that definitely wasn't Ella.

"Rose, please can I come in?"

It was Lucy. Of all the people that could've come upstairs to talk to me, it had to be Lucy, the one that I got on the least well with, despite the fact that she'd put the events of last year behind us, it was still awkward if the two of us were left in a room together.

I heard the door creek open, some light footsteps and then I felt my bed dip as Lucy sat down on it. I was so shocked that I actually stopped trying to suffocate myself with my pillow and looked up at her.

She smiled at me, "Are you okay?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned. I shook my head, my voice failing in my throat. Lucy nodded in an understanding way, "I don't know why I asked, I wouldn't be okay if I'd suffered what you just did."

Okay, why the hell is she being so understanding? We normally never talk to each other unless we're in the company of our many other cousins. I rolled over onto my back and looked at her quizzically.

"Why are you being so nice?" I said, narrowing my eyes, "You haven't spoken to me alone for a year, Lucy."

"I know." Lucy said quietly, "But you looked like you could do with some comforting."

"I have Ella to console me," I said shortly, "And Lily, Molly, Dom, Roxanne and Victoire."

Lucy looked hurt, "Look, Rose, why can't you let it go, I have."

"I have let it go." I snapped, willing the words to be true. But no matter how much I wished they were, they weren't. I still couldn't let the events go, no matter how hard I tried.

I had been so angry, I had wished that I was dead; I had wished that Lucy would fly off to America and stay there forever. I couldn't let it go, not after what she'd done to Hugo.

"No you haven't." Lucy said, "You're still bitter towards me, Hugo and your parents are too. Why can't you accept that I didn't push him and that it was an accident?"

"There were witnesses there that saw you push him, Lucy, Dominique included. Do you really think that your own cousin would rat you out for something that you didn't do?" I said hollowly.

"See! You're still holding the grudge! Please Rose, I thought we'd settled this once we found out that Hugh would be okay. I thought you'd forgiven me." Lucy said, her face dented by hurt.

"That takes a lot to forgive." I said stiffly. Lucy looked like I had pushed a knife through her chest. I didn't care. Who did she think she was? Coming up here and trying to comfort me when she knows full well that I'm still mega pissed at her for what she did to Hugo.

"Rosie?" I looked up to see Ella standing in the doorway, thank god! I had never been happier to see her in my life. She must've read my expression, because her eyes immediately drifted over to Lucy, surveying her hurt face and quickly put two and two together. "I think it'd be wise for you to leave, Lucy." Ella said icily, "Rose doesn't need this right now."

Surprisingly, without complaint, Lucy rose off the bed and walked out of the door without a backwards glance, leaving me in an even worse mood than I had been before. Remembering the events of last year at Easter just made me want to curl up in my bottom draw and sleep for days.

"What did she want?" Ella asked, walking over to my bed and sitting down next to me as I flopped back on my pillows.

"She wants to make amends." I spat nastily.

"You should let her." Ella said, "It might be good for you."

"I can't Ella! Not after what she did to Hugo!" I exclaimed.

"And what did she do to Hugo?" Ella asked, slightly annoyed, "You never did tell me the whole story, we got interrupted in Binns' class while you were telling me at the start of last year.

"Jesus Christ," I muttered, "I do not want to talk about this right now."

"Come on," Ella pushed, "It might take your mind off what your father is yelling at your mum and Uncle in the kitchen… don't pretend that you can't hear them."

"Fine, but don't expect me to be any happier afterwards." I grumbled as the muffled voices nagged at the edges of my mind.

"I've been waiting a year to get this story, so spill." Ella said eagerly.

I took a deep breath and began to tell her in a very shaky voice. "Well, it was Easter last year, obviously, and Hugo had just come out. Nobody really cared that he was gay, we were all proud of him. Life goes on." I paused to clear my throat as a procrastination tactic for what I was about to recount. This event haunted my dreams often enough and I didn't talk about it at all.

"Go on," Ella prompted, forcing me to start talking again.

"Well, we were on the annual Easter hunt, you know the one." I said, Ella nodded, "And Uncle George decided to pair everyone up and look for the Easter eggs that they'd all so cleverly hid in plain sight. Well, Lucy and Hugo were paired up and we were all happy until…" I trailed off as I started to breathe harder as I remembered the horrible scene that had followed.

"Rose, are you alright?" Ella asked, concern laced through her voice as I tried to slow down my breathing and failing miserably. I hadn't spoken about this since it happened and I didn't realise that I would still hyperventilate when I talked about it, I thought I'd passed that phase. Well, apparently not. "Do you want me to get someone?"

"No," I gasped, placing a hand on my chest as I attempted to rid my mind of the images that were flooding back from a place that I had locked up and thrown away the key, "No, I'm fine."

"No you're not." Ella said, grasping my arm.

"Yeah," I said, forcing myself to calm down by thinking about Scorpius. To my surprise, it worked. Well, at least one good thing came out of this; at least I won't hyperventilate to death. "See, fine."

Ella looked unconvinced, but let go of my arm. I saw that as my cue to continue, I took another deep breath. "Dom came running down the hill from the cliff, screaming something about Lucy and Hugo. We all thought it was a prank, but went up there to check that it really was."

"Was it?" Ella asked

"No," I said shortly, "She said something about Hugo falling off and sure enough once we got to the top and looked over we could see Hugo lying on the rocks below us and Lucy standing on the edge looking guilty with her hands over her face and crying."

"She pushed him?" Ella asked, aghast.

"Yeah," I said, "She pushed him. Or at least that's what everyone else says. Dom even presented her memories in court when they convicted her to community service. She had clearly pushed him and he had stumbled off the cliff."

"Oh so it was an accident?" Ella asked, slightly relieved.

"I guess," I said, "She still pushed him and he fell, if she didn't push him then he wouldn't have fallen, therefore it is still Lucy's fault." I said, matter-of-factly.

"Aw Rose, that's a little harsh. I'm sure it was just playful and he stumbled a bit too far." Ella said incredulously, surprised at how harshly I was judging Lucy on this,

"You don't know the half of it, Ella." I said, firing up immediately.

"Then enlighten me." Ella said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows. I hesitated slightly; this was the part that I hated the most, the part that I absolutely didn't want to recount no matter how desperate the situation. "C'mon Rose, enlighten me." Ella prompted when I didn't say anything.

"Well, uh, Lucy presented her memories before the wizenagamot so they would see that she didn't mean to push Hugo off the cliff." I drew in another shaky breath, steadying myself for what I was about to say, "It turns out that Lucy wasn't as accepting as the rest of us were about Hugo's sexual orientation. She was yelling at him and he was fighting back when she pushed him back from her as he started to get up in her face, his foot hit a rock and he went backwards off the cliff."

Ella just looked at me, her mouth slightly open.

"You should've heard the things that she said to him, El, I can't even bring myself to write them down." I said, my voice choked.

"Lucy, wasn't accepting of him? That's something I might've expected from Victoire or Roxanne, but not Lucy. Not in a million years." Ella said.

"Yeah," I snorted, "Neither did we."

"So what happened to Hugo after that? I _knew_ that there was a reason he wasn't at school for the last Term." Ella said, quickly diverting the subject off Lucy.

"He spent weeks in St Mungo's. He'd completely shattered at least four bones in his body which took time to heal. He had heaps of internal bleeding and there was one point when the healers had found a brain aneurism and had to perform surgery on him so that he didn't die. It was a long recovery process. It was a miracle that he actually lived."

"Shit." Ella said, nodding her head in horror.

"Shit is right! There you go, now you know the story of Lucy and Hugo and why Lucy and I don't speak to each other alone." I said, flopping back onto my pillows from my sitting position.

"I still think you should forgive Lucy though." Ella said timidly.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Because even if she did push him, it's not her fault that the rock was in the way and Hugo fell." She said, trying to look confident, but it was clear to me that she was as hesitant as I was to forgive Lucy.

"Ella, I'm not angry at her because she pushed Hugo, that's not the issue that I have. I'm pissed at her because she didn't accept him; she called him names and then proceeded to push him. Her own cousin can you believe it!?"

"Okay…" Ella said hastily as though she had been holding in a deep breath beforehand and was just letting it out now, "I can see why you're pissed off at her, but why can't you forgive her if Hugo has?"

"Because Hugo hasn't," I said bitterly, "He acts as though he has, but the truth is that he never did forgive her and I don't think he ever will. And as long as Hugo doesn't forgive her, I won't forgive her."

"But she's your cousin." Ella tried, "You should forgive her."

"No." I said, crossing my arms stubbornly, "I don't care whether she's my partner or my worst enemy, she hurt my brother and until he forgives her then I won't."

"What do your other cousins have to say about this?" Ella asked.

"The same thing as you," I grumbled, "They all forgave Lucy ages ago."

Ella started to laugh.

"There's nothing funny about this, Ella." I said sternly, my eyebrows raised in a deathly serious expression.

"Your family is so fucked up." Ella laughed, shaking her head in mock disappointment. I couldn't help but crack a smile as she laughed away and before I knew it a chuckle had escaped through my lips as her words echoed through my mind. They were funny because they were true. If you added up how much drama occurs within the Weasley family in a month, it wouldn't add up to James and Abi's relationship dramas that occurred in a year (which was a lot) hopefully that's some indication on how fucked my family is.

"Rose, we're ready for you." I heard Mum call up the stairs and I froze in fear. Ella had been right, telling her about Hugo and Lucy had taken my mind completely off the debate that was occurring in the kitchen downstairs about my relationship with Scorpius.

"Rose Minerva Weasley, get downstairs _now_." That was Dad. Shit, the middle name is being thrown around a lot this holidays, I don't like it. The middle name is a sign of being in trouble. I swear that's what middle names are for, so that your parents can sound sterner when they're angry at you.

"We'd better get down there before they start throwing _my_ middle name around." Ella said, standing up and making her way over to the door. I sat frozen on my bed. I didn't think I could face dad again. "Well come on then, I can practically hear dad bursting to scream my middle name to get us to hurry up."

"Eleanor Phoebe Longbottom!" a voice called from downstairs.

"And there he goes," Ella said, "Oooh, full first name too, that is extremely very not good. Let's go."

"What if he does kick me out?" I whispered my voice barely audible.

"Then you'll come home with me." Ella said earnestly, "at least until he figures out that he's being a shit father and comes to his senses."

I snorted with laughter as Ella hauled me to my feet and practically pulled me towards the door.

"The worst he can do is kick you out right?" Ella said as we both stood at the top of the stairs.

"Is that supposed to be your form of encouragement?" I asked.

"Of course it is." Ella smirked, "now go get 'em."

* * *

"Well, we've reached a verdict." Mum said as I sat down at the dining table. It had been cleared of food and everyone had been shooed out into the garden by Grandma Molly.

"Can we _not_ use official terms? It makes me feel like I'm in court." I muttered quietly, hoping to bring some snark to the serious conversation.

"Don't backchat, young lady." Dad said sternly, "you're in enough trouble as it is."

"Ron!" mum scolded, "stop it! I thought that we agreed that we were going to do this civilly."

"This is civil." Dad said stubbornly. Well at least I know I'm not adopted, I clearly get my stubbornness from him.

"Oh shut up, let me talk to her." Mum said, pushing dad out of the way and standing in his position. Okay, now I'm slightly less scared, mum doesn't yell often so my eardrums are saved for the moment.

"Yes mother dearest." I said innocently. I just really wanted to get this over with so that I could write to Scorpius and ask him if he had broken the news to his parents yet.

"Oi!" Dad started, but mum held up a finger to stop him before turning back to me.

"Rose," she started. It was hard to read her expression; she was so good at hiding her emotions. Damn I wish I'd inherited that instead of Dad's stubbornness, "While your father and I are disappointed in your choice of bloke, we accept your decision, on the one condition that we get to talk to Scorpius and his parents on some… uh… _guidelines_ for your relationship and the condition that you and Scorpius are not in the same room alone for any amount of time."

I laughed in a mixture of happiness and relief, "Why mum? Are you scared that we'll start shagging each other at the first available moment?"

Mum blushed a deep red and started spluttering, floundering for words while Dad just said, "Yes. I don't want you getting pregnant this young."

"Dad!" I whined, "We would never do that!" shit; now we're on the topic of sex, well done Rose, well done.

"Just making sure." He mumbled.

"And what are these _guidelines_ that you're setting?" I asked, emphasising the word 'guidelines' just like mum had.

"Oh, you know, the basics; no sex until you can fully support a child –" Dad started.

"Dad!" I exclaimed, "You know there is such thing as protection?"

"Oh so you are contemplating having sex?"

"Dad!" I exclaimed again, albeit a little exasperatedly, "I am not contemplating having sex!"

"Good." Dad said, before continuing on with his list of guidelines, "Anyway, no kissing, no drinking, no parties, no drugs, and most definitely no sex."

"Really?" I said, dumbfounded, "You do realise that you just took away most of the point of having a boyfriend."

"It'll be good for him, it'll make him realise that he can't just _have_ you." Dad said.

I rolled my eyes, "So if I agree to these terms, I get to keep Scorpius as my boyfriend. I can still hold his hand in the corridors?"

Dad shuddered slightly, "as much as it repulses me to think of you touching that arsehole's son, hand holding is something that I can't stop you from doing is it?"

"No," I said, shaking my head with a small smile, "No you can't."

"So you agree to our terms?" Mum asked. I rolled my eyes again. Never did I imagine that when I finally got a boyfriend would I have to agree to my parents 'terms'. Why didn't Ella have to do this when she started dating Albus?

"Yeah, whatever" I said emotionlessly.

"Alright then" Mum said, getting up from the table and walking back up the stairs, "Ronald, come with me, we need to pack up our stuff and yours is strewn everywhere."

Dad got up grumpily and followed after her, both of them completely oblivious to the fact that I had flat out lied to them. What? I'm not going to abide by all of those rules, well, maybe the sex and the drug rule but parties, drinking and kissing? They're way too good to miss out on.

I pushed back the chair that I'd been sitting on and got up. I was going to find Uncle Harry and ask him how he managed to convince my parents to let me date Scorpius… then I'm going to find Uncle George and kill him.

* * *

"Uncle Harry, you amazing, _amazing_ man, how the hell did you manage to talk them into it?" I said, striding across the grass of the front lawn to where Uncle Harry was peering into a peony bush, possibly looking for a garden gnome. He pulled his head out abruptly and smiled at me.

"Hidden talent Rosie," He said, grinning.

"Seriously, what did you say to him? I thought he was going to disown me or something!" I said, putting my arms around Uncle Harry's neck in a hug.

"I just reminded him about what happened at the end of the War." Uncle Harry shrugged.

"Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrows, wanting to know more.

"Draco Malfoy, Scorpius' Dad, came up to us of his own accord and apologised for everything." Uncle Harry said with a sigh.

"And what exactly is 'everything'" I asked.

"Merlin, Rosie you are the nosiest person that I've ever met." Uncle Harry asked.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically.

"'Everything' included the way his family behaved during the war, the way he treated us while we were at school together, that kind of stuff."

"And how did that convince dad to let me date Scorpius?" I asked, still not seeing the master plan that Uncle Harry obviously had hidden up his sleeve.

"I reminded him that Scorpius was not his father, and that he may be completely different to what his father was like in school. I told him that you couldn't help who you fell in love with. He caved in eventually." Uncle Harry shrugged.

"You are honestly the most amazing Uncle in the World. Which reminds me, the next time you see Uncle George give him a kick in the arse from me."

"Why?" Uncle Harry asked.

"Just tell him it's from Rose and he'll understand." I said, already starting to walk away from him and back to the house so that I could write to Scorpius and tell him the good news and warn him that my parents might try to contact his sometime in the near future.

"I tell you what? I'll get James to do it for me, is that good enough?"

"Sounds great!" I called back, already half way back across the lawn towards the house. As long as someone kicked Uncle George for me I was content.

I flew past Ella and Albus on the stairs, not that they noticed me; the two of them were locked in a match of lip wrestling so it was easy to slip past them and back into my room.

Once inside, I locked the door, making sure that _alohamora_ couldn't open it so no one would intrude on me. I pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill out of my duffel bag and began to write.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I told my parents about us. Well, actually I told the whole family about us. I didn't really have a choice after my uncle caught us snogging behind the wedding marquee on New Year's Eve. He pretty much forced it out of me at breakfast this morning._

_Dad completely flew off the handle when I first told him. You don't want to hear the things that he said about you and I don't want to repeat them now or in a hundred years. My Uncle Harry managed to talk some sense into him with the help of my mum, and he seems fine with it now although he introduced a whole heap of 'terms' that we'd have to abide by. I agreed just to get him off my back, but I'm not going to abide by them. They're way too restrictive, but some have some sense behind them, so I'll stick to the no sex no drugs rules, but everything else I'm breaking because I really couldn't care less what my family thinks._

_Have you told your family yet? If you have please send word of how it went, if not then can you please do It soon because I'd much rather your parents found out via you rather than my parents turning up to talk about our relationship._

_I'll see you in a few days!_

_Love, Rose._

* * *

"Rose, oh my god are you honestly still in bed?" Hugo called up the stairs on the morning of the seventh of January; the day that we were supposed to return to Hogwarts.

"So what if I am." I mumbled loudly into my pillow, "We're not going for another three hours yet Hughie."

" _Au contraire_ ," Hugo yelled back, "Going in fifteen minutes."

"What?" I yelled back, pulling the blankets back from over my head and looking at the alarm clock on my bedside table only to see that he was right. Oh shit I swear it was eight the last time I looked at the clock. Now it's bloody quarter to ten. I only closed my eyes for a minute damnit!

"Fuck." I muttered, getting out of bed and throwing things into my trunk from the floor of my bedroom. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, tossed a few more books into my trunk and sat on it to force it shut. Yeah, should've listened to Mum when she told me to stop writing to Scorpius and pack my trunk last night.

I dragged a brush through my hair and found that I had to open my trunk to put it in as well, which lead to more disaster and an almost broken buckle.

"Rosie, come on, we're apparating and it'll be quite a walk to the station because the safe point is about half a kilometre away." I heard mum call.

"Hang on, I'll be there in a minute. I said, throwing things on my desk out of the way to find my box of breath mints seeing as I didn't have time to brush my teeth.

"There you are." I said, crouching down and reaching underneath my dresser for the little blue box. It rattled as I picked it up, indicating that there were only a few mints left. I made a mental note to buy some more at Hogsmeade on the next visit.

I grabbed the top of my trunk and dragged it behind me down the stairs and into the living room where Mum, Dad and Hugo were standing all ready to go.

"Nice of you to make an appearance, Rosie" Hugo snickered sarcastically.

"Nice of you to wake me up" I snapped equally as sarcastically back at him.

"Alright, stop bickering." Mum said, grabbing Hugo's upper arm, "I'll take Hugo via side along and Rose and Ron, you can come whenever you feel the need."

Dad turned on the spot beside me and disappeared with a crack.

"He obviously feels the need." Hugo joked.

"Oh shut up." I muttered. I didn't need his stupid comments this early in the morning. I concentrated on the safe apparition point and turned on the spot. The familiar apparating sensation engulfed me and I immediately started to think about other things as the sensation became tighter and tighter. I almost laughed as I realised that the last time that I'd apparated was with Mae to Wales.

I felt the sensation release and I opened my eyes to find myself standing in the middle of an alleyway next to Dad, and only seconds later, Mum and Hugo appeared next to him.

"Shall we go then?" Mum said as Hugo and I picked up our trunks.

"Lead the way." Dad said, standing aside and letting Mum walk out first, followed by Hugo, Me and then him.

It was only now that I thought how weird we must look, two parents walking with their teenage children to the train station, especially since the two teenage children were dragging mammoth suitcases behind them. We must look like their slaves. I chuckled at the thought as Kings Cross station appeared in my line of sight at the end of the street.

Butterflies rose in my stomach as I realised how close I was to seeing Scorpius again. It felt like a lifetime ago that we spoke on New Year's Day, despite the fact that it had been just eight days ago. It felt like there was a huge gap between the thirty-first of December and the first of January and we hadn't seen each other for that whole time.

With a jolt I realised that I hadn't had much contact with Jade, Mae or Rio throughout the whole Holidays; Mae and I had exchanged a few letters, but I hadn't heard from Rio or Jade at all, though I didn't really blame them. Christmas was a huge family tradition for the both of them and normally they never contacted me around that time, but most of the time I did at least get a letter after New Year's. I suppose we all have better people to send our letters to now that all of us are no longer single.

"Looking forward to seeing your friends, Rosie?" Mum asked as we entered the station.

"Yeah," I said with a smile as we walked towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten as Dad got us trolleys. The two of us loaded our luggage on and leant casually against the barrier, chatting to each other carelessly as we slipped through to the other side of the barrier.

As soon as the remainder of my trolley had come through I ditched Hugo and went off looking for my friends, or preferably my boyfriend, but you know. I'd settle for the friends if I spotted them first.

"Rosie!"

I looked around to see Rio running towards me, looking incredibly tanned.

"Hey Ree!" I exclaimed, "how was your holidays, and don't say terrible because you've got a mean tan. How did you get a tan? We live in _England_."

"I went to Australia; it's the middle of summer there and spent most of the time sunbaking on the beach and eating mangoes." She said excitedly.

"That sounds amazing!" I squealed, giving her a hug, "How was it?"

"It _was_ amazing. I wish we could've stayed longer. Next Christmas you're coming with us, Rosie!"

I laughed, "I'll have to check with my parents, but they'll say yes. My grandparents live in Australia."

Rio opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Ella sneaking up behind her and putting her hands over her eyes.

"Jade?" Rio guessed and Ella took her hands away from Rio's eyes.

"Wrong." She said happily, as Rio turned to see who it really was.

"Ella!" she exclaimed, "It feels like forever, but really it's only been two weeks."

As Ella and Rio caught up on their holidays, I stood on my toes and looked out for a certain brown haired Slytherin, which was probably a stupid thing to look out for because over half the population of Slytherin males are brunettes. Nonetheless I kept an eye out for Scorpius. I just wanted to give him a hug and hold his hand.

It seemed as if I was in luck, however as a tall brunette with a pointed chin made his way over towards me.

"Scorpius!" I exclaimed happily, running towards him as he so effortlessly parted the crowd.

"Hey Rosie," he said opening his arms as I flew right into them, "I've missed you."

I looked up at him, "I've missed you too."

And just like that he leant down and pressed is lips to mine. I found myself responding to the kiss with as much, if not more vigour than he was kissing me with. It was then that I remembered the 'terms' that Mum and Dad had set me, the ones that I wasn't going to abide by _while I was at Hogwarts_. I haven't even got on the train yet and I've broken rule number two.

Oops.


	18. Rumour Has It

"Rose, please not in plain sight!" Ella said and Scorpius and I broke apart, "Merlin you are so lucky that it was me and not your father that caught that little PDA."

"Oh shut up." I said, blushing a deep red as Scorpius laced his fingers through mine and we walked back across to them.

"Hi." Scorpius said with a smile, "Scorpius Malfoy." He offered his hand to Rio who took it politely and Ella who clenched his hand a little tighter than was necessary.

"I know." Ella said, "I think everyone does."

I could tell that she was trying really hard not to sound bitter towards him. After all, he had called her mute for the first three years at Hogwarts because she hardly spoke when she wasn't spoken to. It was natural that she was still a little distant with him, however it was good to see that she was making an effort.

"Well that's good; I like to know that I'm making a name for myself." Scorpius joked. Rio and Ella didn't laugh but rather looked at him like he was a little bit mental. Scorpius' face fell and he hastily changed the topic, "So, where's the other two? The fantastical lesbian couple, are they going to make an appearance?" He asked, again trying to be funny.

Again, nobody found it funny.

"Oh god I'm just embarrassing myself now, let's start again." He said, hiding his head in his hands and shaking it. Just as quickly as he had acted embarrassed, his head shot back up with a cheeky grin on his face as he stuck out his hand for Rio to shake.

"Hello, I'm Scorpius." He said and Rio took his hand with a slight smile. I'm taking that as a good sign before something goes terribly wrong.

"Rio," Rio said, her smile widening, "Rio Blanche."

"Ah, Miss Blanche, Rose has told me so much about you." Scorpius said, shaking Rio's hand vigorously. She laughed slightly and shot him a quizzical expression, "Yeah, this isn't going the way I planned it. I'm Scorpius, that's all you need to know."

"Alright then," Rio laughed, "Nice to meet you Scorpius."

Ella's expression stayed stony as Scorpius started to chuckle at Rio. "Well ladies, if you'll excuse me, I must get on the train." He turned to me, "see you soon Rosie." He bent down and kissed me on the cheek.

"Oi!" Ella protested, "I said no more PDA's"

"Sorry, sorry." Scorpius said, stepping back from me with his hands in the air.

"I love you." I said, moving forward and giving him a hug around the middle. I could practically hear Ella growling from her position. I shot her a glare, "oh go snog Albus will you?" I snapped before turning my head back into Scorpius' chest and inhaling his scent.

"Oi, Malfoy!" I heard some of Scorpius' friends call in the distance. He broke off the hug and kissed the top of my head.

"I'll see you when we get back to school, yeah?" He said as his friends called impatiently again.

"Yeah," I said, blushing a little as I bit my lip.

"Love you." He said before turning around and yelling at his friends, "For god's sake Malcom, I am coming!" and with that, he disappeared off into the crowds.

"That…" Ella said, looking after Scorpius as he went to join his friends, "Was Scorpius?"

"The one and only," I grinned, "Regretting saying that you hate him yet?"

Ella shook her head but Rio nodded fervently.

"Yes, I take it all back." She said, "He's hilarious, friendly and good looking; Rose how did you manage to get the best deal?"

"Because I'm more amazing than you two," I joked sarcastically, "No, I'm kidding. I guess it was just meant to be."

"Speaking of couples that are meant to be, where the hell are Jade and Mae? They said that they'd meet us here." Ella said, craning her neck to see whether she could spot the two girls in the crowds that were now piling onto the train.

"Well it might take Mae a bit longer to get here. She's staying with her sister in Wales and she has to come back from there. For all we know she's not even catching the train." I said, having to yell as the whistle sounded, signalling us all to get on.

"Wait, why is Mae in Wales?" Rio asked, her brow creasing.

I sighed, of course, they didn't know. "Long story, I'll explain on the train." I said as I fought against the crowds that were pushing all three of us towards the scarlet steam engine.

"Rose." I heard a voice yell above the din. I looked wildly around to see my mother waving from outside the throng of people. I extracted an arm and waved back at her. I knew that she knew it was me because of my red hair, which immediately made me stand out amongst all of the other blondes and brunettes in the crowd.

By the time that we'd managed to get our own compartment on the train without having to share with annoying first years, we were well and truly on our way to Hogwarts and there was still no sign of Jade and Mae.

"Damn I was really looking forward to seeing how it went with coming out to their parents and all." Rio said, once we were sure that there was neither hide nor hair of them on the train.

"Oh, I know about Mae's experience." I said darkly.

"You do?" Rio said, leaning forward in her seat eagerly, "What happened?"

I sighed and resented myself to telling them, "Long story short; she came out to her parents and they kicked her out of the house. She apparated to my place in the middle of a snowstorm and then Mae and I went to Wales in the middle of the night so that she could spend Christmas with her sister."

"Fucking bastards." Rio muttered, "they seriously kicked her out?"

"Yeah, I don't know if Mae and her sister decided to come and give their parents a piece of their minds or not, but I really hope they have." I said. Ella had already heard this story before, but was looking at me in surprise.

"What?" I asked.

"You conveniently left out the 'we went to Wales in the middle of the night' part when you told me." She said, her eyebrows still raised.

"What…?" I said, thinking back to when I had told her about this on Christmas day, "Oh Ella, give me a break! I was half asleep when I told you that!"

Ella rolled her eyes at me, "How can you forget that you went to Wales in the middle of the night?"

"I didn't, I was tired and irritable and I knew if I kept talking to you I would snap and make you mad at me. So I cut the story down." I said, shaking my head.

"I'm not sure whether to thank you or hit you." Ella laughed.

"Hitting wouldn't be appreciated." I said, flinching away from her as she and Rio giggled away.

Ah it was good to be back with my friends.

* * *

"Well, look who it is." I heard a voice sneer from behind me as I unpacked my bag in the dormitory. I wheeled around to see Jade standing in the doorway with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Jade!" I squealed and ran towards her, hugging her around the waist tightly, "How was your holiday?"

"It was great. I went to Wales to visit family and got in touch with Mae who was staying with her sister. I like her sister, she's really nice." Jade said, walking inside the dorm and setting her stuff down by her bed.

"Where is Mae?" I asked, poking my head out of the door and looking up and down the corridor as if to see Mae's blonde head bobbing down the corridor.

"She and her sister went down to London yesterday to sort out the whole homophobe thing with her parents. I expect that her sister will bring her back if nothing works out with her parents." Jade shrugged.

"Oh," Ella said, her eyes lighting up, "How did coming out to your parents go?"

Jade smiled, "They were like you, they all knew for years beforehand. It was kind of went, 'Hey, mum I'm lesbian' and mum goes, 'yeah I know', No more discussion about it, although she told me to bring Mae over to stay over summer." Jade said with a shrug before looking back down at the ground, "I wish Mae's family were as accepting as my mum was."

"What about your dad?" Rio asked, "What did he have to say."

"Oh yeah, that's the good news." Jade said, "Mum kicked him out just before Christmas. She'd been threatening to do it for ages if he didn't do anything about his drinking problem and she finally did it. I was glad to be rid of him to be perfectly honest."

I had no idea what I was supposed to say to that. It was evident that no one else did either because there was an awkward silence that followed Jade's words.

"So," Rio said, breaking the silence, "What did you and Mae do in Wales?"

"We hung out mostly, went on a few walks and a train ride. That was it." Jade said.

"Are you sure you didn't do anything more than that?" Rio asked with a saucy wink.

"Rio!" I scolded, "Of course she didn't! and even if she did that's for her to know and us to never find out."

"Hey, come on, I asked for your advice about Oliver." Rio said defensively.

"Oh yeah, how did that go?" Jade asked, throwing the original question back in Rio's face.

"That's my business." Rio spluttered.

"Yeah, see, not so nice when it's done to you is it?" Jade said, opening her trunk and throwing her things out of it and onto her bed, creating the mess that always sat there. Rio rolled her eyes and went back to unpacking her own trunk.

"So you're not even going to try and keep your part of the room tidy this term?" I asked Jade as she one of her school blouses landed on my face. I pulled the offending piece of clothing off and dangled it in her face.

"What's the point," Jade said, snatching the top out of my hand and throwing it on top of her dresser, "It's just going to get messy again isn't it?"

"Whatever you say Jade." I muttered, jumping up and resuming my own unpacking.

There was little conversation throughout the time that all of us put our clothes back into their drawers, or in Jade's case, tossed them on her bed where they would remain for the majority of the term.

I had almost finished unpacking when my finger brushed something at the bottom of the trunk. Carefully, I shifted the textbook that was on top of it out of the way to see the rose and the card that Scorpius had sent me over the holidays.

How it wasn't squashed yet, I didn't know. Immediately, I conjured a vase with my wand and set it on my bedside table. As I placed the rose inside it I heard Jade ask, just like I knew she would.

"Who's the rose from?"

I turned around with a huge grin on my face and said the word that I knew would piss her off the most.

"Scorpius." I said nonchalantly as I propped the card up next to it.

"Oh…" Jade said, turning back to her unpacking. Despite the fact that she had accepted Scorpius and my relationship, she was still a little peeved that I chose to go out with Scorpius Malfoy of all people. She was just going to have to get used to it because I wasn't breaking up with him any time soon.

* * *

"Hey Rosie." Scorpius said as I sat down next to him in muggle studies. We had been back at school for a few weeks now, and the Hogwarts rumour mill was going absolutely psycho. There was the usual gossip, you know; 'did you hear that the ministry is going to stop Hogsmeade weekends if adults in the pub keep buying us drinks?' but the most common rumour that had reached my ears was 'did you know that Scorpius Malfoy is dating Rose Weasley?'

Of course I bloody well know because the last time I checked I was the only Rose Weasley and he was the only Scorpius Malfoy under the Hogwarts roof. People can be so damn stupid sometimes.

"We're the talk of the school." Scorpius muttered into my ear as he kissed me on the cheek.

"Yeah," I said, ignoring the whispers from behind us, "have you heard the bullshit that the rumour mill is churning out about us?"

"I may have heard some of the 'bullshit' yes." Scorpius said with a small chuckle, "This morning I heard Madeline Goyle telling Cassandra Crabbe that apparently we 'had a fuck in the broom closet' this morning" he drew quotation marks in the air around the words _had a fuck in the broom closet_.

I snorted with laughter, "Who the hell is going to believe that? That's almost as bad as the one where I'm six months pregnant and living with you at your place."

Scorpius burst out laughing, "I'm pretty sure you'd be showing if you were six months pregnant."

I rolled my eyes, "As long as we show that the rumours don't affect us, they'll eventually go away." I said, "They're pretty ridiculous rumours anyway."

"Well said Rosie." He smiled as I shifted my chair closer to him.

"Well, I'm glad your mum approves of us at any rate." I said quietly as Professor Simona walked into the room carrying a large stack of papers.

"Yeah," Scorpius said, "My dad might take a little more persuasion to see that you're an alright person. He's still holding a grudge against your father."

"That makes two of us." I muttered, "We need to devise a plan to get them to get along with each other."

"I'll second that." Scorpius laughed.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Weasley, while it is good to see you two getting along with each other for once, if you could please be quiet so I can explain todays lesson to the class." Professor Simona said, looking half amused, half annoyed.

"Sorry Professor." I apologised. Professor Simon shot us a small smile before turning back to the class.

"Now, class, I am about to announce that the long awaited camping trip will take place on the third of March this year. The permission notes that you all took home at the end of last term have all been sent back, courtesy of your parents, which means that we are all set to go. Any questions?"

"Where will we be going?" Corey Finnigan asked.

"The Forest of Dean," Daniel Thomas said, "It was on the note numnuts."

"Well sorry if I didn't read it." Corey retorted.

"Boys!" Professor Simona called as Daniel opened his mouth angrily and closed it again at the sight of Professor Simona's expression, "yes, Mr Finnigan, we will be going to the Forest of Dean as Mr Thomas has just explained. It'll be quite cold so make sure you bring lots of warm clothes."

I raised my hand.

"Yes Rose," Professor Simona said, nodding at me.

"How many people to a tent, and do we get to choose who rooms with us?" I asked, thinking primarily of getting at tent with my friends and Scorpius and _not_ with Carla Mace.

"It will be five to a tent, and girls and boys will be separated as I know that most of you are now in relationships and we don't want anything to happen." She said, coughing slightly.

"Wanky." Albus said from the back.

"Mr Potter!" Professor Simona said turning around to glare at him.

"Oh come on Professor, you walked into that one." Albus grinned as Ella hit him on the arm as I heard her hiss.

"Act your age."

Professor Simona rolled her eyes and waved her wand at the stack of papers on her desk and they all flew out to their respective owner.

"I've marked your tests from last term and overall I'm pleased with your results, unfortunately the same can't be said for your essays on Shakespeare." She said, her smile turning into a thin line as she waved her wand at the second pile of papers and they all flew out.

My essay reached me before my test did. I flipped it over and looked at the comments

_Very detailed and outstandingly explained. Well done Rose!_

And then to the little red O in the corner of the paper and felt my ego swell a little bit at the sight of it. Thank god for that, I am spared from my mother's wrath once again.

It seemed like an hour before my test reached me. I shot a glance at Scorpius' essay while I was waiting. He'd got an E, which was pretty good for him seeing as he's a pure blood who does muggle studies.

I snatched my test out of the air as it hovered over my head and looked at the mark in the corner with baited breath. Another 'O' thank god, I'm keeping up my class average which will be good for my résumé when I apply for a job at the ministry later this year.

"You got an O as well!" Scorpius exclaimed, looking over at my paper and brandishing his in my face. "See, all of those tutoring sessions payed off."

"Liar," I said, pushing him slightly, "You never needed my help, you could do it just fine on your own."

"Yeah, well, great minds think alike. You get an O, I get an O, you see how this works?"

"You're such a dork!" I exclaimed.

"A dork that loves you." He said, leaning in and brushing his lips against mine softly.

"Oi! Malfoy, Weasley, keep it for the bedroom, will you?" Bradley Mace yelled and we jumped apart abruptly, remembering where we were. I smiled sideways at Scorpius as I forced my attention back to the board where Professor Simona was writing today's lesson.

* * *

To say that things had taken a turn for the better when Scorpius had started using the pain muffling charm was an understatement compared to what he told me as soon as Muggle studies finished and we were free or the night.

"Oh yeah, I visited St. Mungo's in the holidays and they checked me out and told me that I was almost fine!" he said as we walked out of the door.

"What? Oi, you can't just spring that on me nonchalantly." I said, running after him, "That's amazing Scorpius, why are you not excited?"

"I kind of got over it during the holidays, but I thought that you'd like to know." He shrugged, "Glad that you're happy though." He smiled.

"Happy? I'm ecstatic! This means you can play Quidditch properly again and you don't have to cast the pain muffling charm every four hours." I said, jumping around him before kissing his cheek.

"Wow, If I'd known you'd be this excited I would've told you in private. Come on Rose you're embarrassing yourself."

"Oh, you'd know all about that now, wouldn't you?" I teased. Scorpius opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by someone calling his name.

"Scorpius?" she called and I turned to see Carla Mace walking down the corridor towards us.

"Here comes trouble." I muttered to Scorpius as she approached us.

"Carla," Scorpius regarded, nodding his head at her, "How can I help you?"

"Can I talk to you alone?" she said, looking pointedly at me. A monster reared up inside me and I felt a rush of adrenaline go to my brain and before I could rein them in, the words tumbled out of my mouth.

"No, If you want to say something, then you can say it to both of us." I snapped, taking Carla by surprise.

"Fine," she muttered, "What's got your wand in a knot, Weasley?"

"Just tell us." I snapped again, "We haven't got all day."

Carla sneered at me before turning back to Scorpius and saying in such a matter of fact tone, like it was something she told blokes every day, "I'm pregnant."

I felt my jaw hit the ground as the words processed in my brain. I looked from her to Scorpius in disbelief. No, there was absolutely no way that even if Carla was pregnant that it was Scorpius' child. She was such a slut that she probably didn't know who the father was.

"M-Mine?" Scorpius stammered, pointing to himself looking like a slack jawed idiot.

"Yeah," Carla said, looking at the ground, "I've known since the first day of the holidays, but I didn't get a chance to tell you before now. I'm about three months."

As one, my eyes and Scorpius' looked down at her belly to see that it was slightly swollen. Oh my god she wasn't lying.

"What… I don't understand." Scorpius stammered as I stepped away from both of them.

"Well… I'm going to have a baby and you're the father, does that simplify it down for you?"

"But…" Scorpius stammered, taking another step back from her. I couldn't take this anymore. Turning on my heel, I ran up the staircase at the end of the corridor, pushing through the crowds like there was a werewolf chasing me, Carla's words echoing in my head the whole time. _I'm pregnant. I'm having a baby and you're going to be a father. I'm about three months. I'm pregnant._

I felt tears sting in my eyes. There was no way that Scorpius and I could be together if Carla was pregnant, no way in hell. If Scorpius had a baby to look after then our relationship would be pointless.

Reaching Gryffindor Tower, I sobbed the password to the Fat Lady and barged into the common room, through everyone who was chatting and doing homework and up into my dormitory, which was empty bar Ella who was sitting on her bed reading a book.

"Hey Rose." She said, not looking up, "Finally decided to pull yourself away from Scorpius?" she looked up and saw my face, I was sure that she could see that I was about to cry. "What happened?" she yelped, jumping up off the bed and rushing over to me as I fought back tears, "Did Scorpius break up with you because if he did he is going to get a good hexing from me."

I shook my head.

"Oh good I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that." Ella said, looking relieved, "but what then?"

"Carla Mace." I managed before the tears started to escape my eyes.

"What about her?" Ella said, following me towards my bed where I sat down.

"She's pregnant." I said, biting down hard on my lip to stop the tears.

"Shit." Ella said, looking surprised, "Why are you crying if she's pregnant though?"

"Because she says that it's Scorpius' baby. Ella if it is Scorpius' baby then Scorpius and I can never be together, even if Carla dumps the baby on him and runs, I will not raise a child that isn't my own, especially since it's _her_ child." I said angrily.

"Wait, Scorpius cheated on you with Carla Mace?" Ella asked, sitting on the end of my bed.

"No, he dated her before me." I said waving it off, "but now she's fucking pregnant and I can't date Scorpius if I know that another girl is carrying his child!"

"Okay, it look like I might have to hex someone after all." Ella said, "Starting with Carla Mace."

"Ella, please don't do anything. You'll only get yourself into trouble." I said, "This is between Scorpius, Carla and I." I made an exasperated sound of frustration and all of my frustration and tears that I had been holding in flew out, attacking everything around me.

"That stupid bloody idiot!" I exclaimed, swinging my fist around so that it connected with the wall, "How dare he go and have sex with Carla Mace and get her pregnant!" I placed my hands on all of my books that resided on my desk and sent them flying everywhere. "How dare he not use protection!" I pulled down one of my hangings. "I'm breaking up with him. He's so fucking stupid, I don't want him in my life anymore!"

"Rose stop it, you're scaring me." Ella said, trying to restrain me from wrecking the room even further. I threw her off and started to toss the contents out of my bag, looking for my wand.

"I'm going to fucking hex him to Jupiter and back just so I can hex him all the way to Neptune again." I raged.

"Rose, just calm down, think rationally for a minute." Ella said, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to my bed as I went to run out of the room.

"I _am_ thinking rationally." I shouted, wrenching my fist out of her grasp with such force that it swung around and hit my bedside table, sending the vase with the rose that Scorpius had sent me for Christmas flying across the room only to shatter on the far wall. I stood there, almost as if I had been stunned as the rose fell to the ground amongst the shards of pottery and promptly shrivelled up. That rose had been through so much and it chose now to shrivel up? Well, I guess it showed how I felt about our relationship now, completely and utterly dead.

* * *

"Rose, please!" Scorpius begged as I stalked angrily past him the next day, "just listen to me!"

"I'm not talking to you." I snapped, continuing on towards my next class.

"Stop Rosie! Just hear me out?"

"Fine then, what are you going to do about your ex-girlfriend and your current girlfriend?" I said, stopping, turning around and crossing my arms across my chest.

"Well, Carla and I talked about it last night and she wants to keep it." Scorpius said, looking down at his shoes nervously.

"And?" I prompted, waiting for more.

"And I'm going to support her."

"What!?" I exclaimed loudly, "You're not serious are you?"

"It's my child that she's carrying Rose! I'm not just going to abandon her!" Scorpius hissed.

"Oh and what about me, I just get dumped then, do I?" I said angrily, feeling my face growing hot.

"I didn't mean it like that." Scorpius said.

"You could've fooled me!" I yelled back, "It's time for you to choose, Scorpius. Me or Carla, and you'd better make the right decision."

"I choose you of course Rosie, but Carla is pregnant and she needs my support."

"That's not a valid decision." I snapped and Scorpius sighed.

"Then what is?"

"Me or her, someone who'll love you with all their heart or someone who is just trying to tie you down with a baby… It's probably not even yours, you told me that she was sleeping with three other blokes behind your back!"

"It is mine," Scorpius said.

"How do you know, have you done a paternity test?" I yelled.

"No."

"Then how do you know it's yours?"

"Because Carla said so." Scorpius shrugged. I laughed sardonically.

"Oh, so you're just going to go on the word of that slut. Scorpius if you want any kind of future with me you will do that paternity test and get back to me as soon as possible, alright?"

And with that, I turned on my heel and walked away, feeling slightly better at being able to vent my feelings, but a lot worse because I had just yelled at the boy that I loved, despite the fact that he was supposedly going to be a father, I still loved him with all my heart, and I hoped and wished that the story about the baby wasn't true.


	19. It's Not Right, But It's Okay

"He won't even get the bloody paternity test! It's like he wants to have Carla's kid or something!" I raged. The five of us, were sat in our dorm while I just flipped out over Scorpius. To make matters worse it happened to be four in the morning when Ella had woken up screaming her head off at some nightmare that she'd been having.

"Rosie, you've got to give him time, he's probably in shock." Rio said, leaning against the headboard of her bed and biting her nails.

"Probably in shock? Ree, he's had three weeks to think on it and he still hasn't gone and got the motherfucking paternity test." I exclaimed.

"Why do you want him to take a paternity test?" Mae asked, "It's still going to be his."

"No it's not, Scorpius told me that when he dated Carla she was cheating on him with three other blokes behind his back, it could be any one of them." I said, waving my arms about madly.

"Well, why the hell didn't you mention that before?" Mae said exasperatedly, "Here I am, all confused as to why you want Scorpius to get a paternity test and you're hiding that it might not even be Carla's?"

I flushed as I realised that I hadn't told them about Carla's sleeping around.

"I told Ella," I mumbled. Mae rolled her eyes as if to say _do I look like Ella?_

"Can we talk about something else? This is so depressing." Jade asked eagerly.

"Yes," I muttered, "anything to take my mind off the fact that I might be breaking up with my boyfriend of two months if he doesn't get that damn paternity test."

"Whose excited for the camping trip?" Jade squealed, "Sorry but I've been holding that back for weeks now."

"Oh yeah, when is that again?" Ella asked, jumping from her bed onto Jade's and sitting down at the foot, leaning against one of the posts.

Jade rolled her eyes, "Today you idiots, were you not listening in Muggle studies yesterday afternoon."

"Today?!" I yelped, jumping off my bed and flying into action, packing clothes and necessities into a small rucksack.

"Rose obviously didn't pay attention," Rio snorted.

"I was a little bit preoccupied thanks." I said, "and besides, Ella was too busy gawking at Albus that she wasn't listening either." I gestured to Ella, who was mimicking my actions on the opposite side of the room. I don't know how I could've missed the announcement that we were going camping later today. I must've been seriously pissed off to miss an announcement like that.

"What time are we leaving?" I asked as I put my toothbrush into my bag.

"Three o'clock." Jade said, "Professor Simona said that she didn't want to have us falling asleep while we were setting up the tents.

"Brilliant." I said, "We're all in the same tent, aren't we?"

"As far as I know, yes," Jade said, "Professor Simona is choosing according to friendship groups. So it'll be us plus two."

"Cool," I said, not paying attention to what Rio had started to say. There was only one thing on my mind now and that was to try and force Scorpius to take a paternity test before we went camping. There is just no way that I can go on a bloody excursion with him not knowing whether he's going to father my arch enemy's child or not. At least if he was the father, then I would know. I just can't stand being uncertain about these things. If Scorpius wants to father her child, that's fine with me but he can consider that decision to end our relationship.

* * *

"Rosie." I heard Scorpius say softly as I passed the Slytherin table in the Great Hall at breakfast.

"What?" I snapped, a little louder than was necessary.

"Come outside with me, we need to talk." And with that, he got up from the table, ignoring all of the stares and walked out of the hall. With an exasperated sigh and a longing look at the bacon and eggs waiting for me, I followed him.

Scorpius was half way across the grounds when I caught up with him.

"What's this about Scorpius?" I said, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around to face me, "Spill, I'm starving and I want to go and eat." I put my hands on my hips.

"I just wanted to let you know that I've decided to get a paternity test on Carla's child and I want you to come with me to find out, because if it isn't then you'll know I'm not lying." He said.

I took a step back from him in surprise, I had not been expecting this at all. In truth I was resigning myself to nagging him incessantly for the rest of the day before we went camping to get the paternity test until he gave in.

"Mind you, Carla wasn't happy about it, she almost hexed me when I brought up the idea. She swears it's mine, but it's like you said Rosie, she was sleeping around. It could've been any one of the blokes she was shagging."

"I just want to know why you didn't use protection." I grumbled, "This wouldn't have happened if you did."

"It was the heat of the moment." Scorpius muttered before changing the subject at lightning speed. "So, will you come with Carla and I to get the paternity test?"

"Fine" I said in resigned sort of voice, "But if that kid really is yours, then we are no longer in a relationship, do you hear?"

"Aw Rose, come on, It's not like I cheated on you or anything. That's a little harsh considering that the only thing I did wrong was shag my girlfriend of-the-time without protection. I've done nothing to you." Scorpius said.

"How do you think I can date you while I know that Carla is carrying your child? Do you know how badly that reflects on both of us?"

"Oh, it's a matter of perception now, what happened to "as long as we have each other, who cares what other people think"" Scorpius said, a flush creeping into his cheeks.

"It's different from just being talked about in the corridors, Scorpius. Carla is pregnant and she's told everyone that _you're_ the father, even if you're not really. That makes _you_ look like a two-timer and me look like a bloody home wrecker!"

Scorpius paused for a second, "But if we still love each other, then we can date no matter what right? Rose, Carla will never ever replace you no matter what."

"If you father Carla's child," I said, feeling tears building up behind my eyelids, "then I can never love you in the same way… " I lied through my teeth, "I'll see you at twelve for the paternity test." I turned on my heel and walked away, desperately trying to suppress the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

* * *

The tension in the air was palpable as I met Carla and Scorpius outside the hospital wing at twelve o'clock on the dot. Carla was wearing a tight fitted top as if to show off her slight baby bump, she also looked absolutely terrified. I couldn't put my finger on whether it was because she was scared of me or what I would do to her when I found out that the baby wasn't Scorpius', because I knew for sure that she was lying now. She was lying through her bitchy slutty teeth and now she was going to pay, as soon as we got this stupid paternity test cleared up.

"Ah, Miss Mace, you're not the first one I've had in here with a teenage pregnancy. I think your mother was one too. Ah yes, I remember, she had you and your brother Bradley at the very end of the school year, I remember it well." Old Madame Pomfrey said as the three of us entered. I suppressed the urge to laugh. So being a whore ran in the family did it? I wondered if Carla's mother had tried to steal someone's boyfriend the way that she stole mine.

"Now, we have slightly more advanced methods of paternity tests now than we did back in your mother's day, unfortunately, Carla we never found out who your father was due to insufficient testing, but now all you have to do is lie down here and I'll do a few spells. This will not only test if Mr Malfoy here is the father, but it will tell us who the father is."

I saw Carla's face, which was slowly going red with anger seconds earlier, go pale. I knew it, Scorpius isn't the father! And not only is he going to be 'set free' from this, but we're going to find out who the mystery father is.

Madame Pomfrey drew her wand and began to mutter some complex spells under her breath. After a few seconds, an image began to swim in the air over Carla's belly. It was too distorted to see yet, but after a few more seconds I looked up to see a caption on the bottom of the image that read 'father'. Ever so slowly I looked up at the face in the image hoping against hope that it wouldn't show Scorpius. As my eyes levelled with the ones in the image, I saw not the grey eyes that belonged to Scorpius, but the kind brown ones that belonged to Kieran Boot.

I could've jumped more than a foot in the air out of joy in that moment. It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders and I was free. Both of us were free. I looked over at Scorpius with a winning smile on my face. The same could not be said for Scorpius' expression.

His normally pale face had become beetroot red and he looked like a vein was about to pop in his temple. "What the hell?" Scorpius said dangerously, looking down at Carla with anger seeping through every pore. "What the actual fuck?" he seized Carla by the front of her shirt.

"Mister Malfoy, please!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed as Scorpius lifted her up into the air. Wow he was pissed, understandably too.

"Did you know this the whole time?" Scorpius said as Carla scrabbled at his hand as she tried to put him down, "ANSWER ME!" Scorpius bellowed.

"Y-Yes" Carla choked, "I-I knew it was Kieran's."

Scorpius dropped her suddenly. Unfortunately she landed on the bed and wouldn't die. Pity.

"Then why in the fucking world would you come up to me in the corridorwhile I am _with my girlfriend_ and tell me that you are carrying my fucking child when you're not!" Scorpius calm tone at the beginning of the sentence had escalated into a full on scream by the end. Carla looked terrified as Scorpius advanced on her, "Tell me why Carla, huh, why did you do that? You almost cost me my relationship with Rose you fucking home wrecker!"

Carla's face went placid at the mention of my name, "I did it because we're perfect together, Scorpius, you and I. We'd make a great couple, I'll bet Weasley is no good in bed anyway and we both know how much you enjoyed our shags." She said, winking suggestively. Scorpius looked disgusted and I felt like I was about to puke, "Weasley isn't good for you Scorpius, she makes you work too hard for what you want. We can be together Scorpius, we don't have to tell Kieran about the baby, we can keep it a secret, just you and me, our baby."

"Just fuck of Carla, you bloody psychopath. Stay out of my life you fucking whore, you need to be locked up!"

"Okay, I think that's quite enough of that, Mister Malfoy. You and Miss Weasley will fetch this Kieran. Tell him that he is needed at the hospital wing. If you could also notify Miss Mace's brother, that would be great too." Madame Pomfrey said.

"Sure," I said, grabbing Scorpius' hand to stop him from going back to yell at Carla. He froze at my touch and looked down at my hand on his just as Madame Pomfrey shut the doors in our faces.

"Y-You're touching me voluntarily." He said, like he was surprised that I was doing so.

"Oh come on Scorpius, you think after watching the paternity test come up as negative on you and then seeing you beat Carla up verbally that I'm still going to be mad at you?"

"Yeah." Scorpius muttered.

"Why?" I asked, "Everything's fine now."

"I still supported her." He mumbled, more softly than before.

"You think I'm angry at you because you supported her?" I asked, "That's what I love the most about this whole situation. It shows that if I ever get pregnant by you that you're not going to abandon me for uh… fresh meat." I said, hugging him around the middle.

"So you're really forgiving me?" Scorpius said, flabbergasted.

"There's nothing to forgive you big idiot." I said into his chest, "I'm sorry though."

"Sorry, for what?" Scorpius asked as he stroked my hair that he had so often insulted.

"Sorry for overreacting, it was really stupid to fly off the handle like that." I mumbled.

"Rose, you weren't overreacting in the slightest." Scorpius said, prying me away from his body and holding me at arm's length, "If I was you I probably would've been worse, you saw how badly I reacted with Carla." He laughed and I laughed along with him, pleased to hear the sound of his laughter once more.

"You're crying." He said, wiping a tear from my cheek. I hastily wiped my eyes and smiled back at him.

"I'm just happy." I said, pressing my lips to his.

* * *

"This is so bloody ridiculous." Jade exclaimed as we reached the top of the hill that we had been trekking up for the past hour and a half, "Who gave Professor Simona the map?" she called to everyone at large.

"Uh, I did." Ella said shyly, "She looked like she knew what she was doing."

"Jesus, Ella, we've been through this. When in doubt give the map to Rosie." Jade said, "Now we're lost."

"Don't try to pin this on me!" Ella said indignantly. Jade was about to open her mouth to retort when Professor Simona called out to the class.

"It's okay, I've figured out where we are. The Forest of Dean is just a few metres that way." She pointed west, "no, that way." She pointed north, "or was it that way." She pointed east.

"We'd better sit down while she works it out." I said, sitting down against a tree and hooking my backpack over a small rut in the tree.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if Ella hadn't given the map to Professor Simona." Jade snapped.

"Oi!" Ella yelled back, tossing a stone at Jade in annoyance.

"Stop it, both of you. We're not going to find our way any faster if you two keep bickering, that's enough. Period." I said, snatching the rock that Ella had been about to throw at Jade out of her hand.

"I thought your catchphrase was bloody hell…" Jade said, narrowing her eyes at me as if she thought that something was wrong.

"Oh, they're the same thing." I said, getting up and unhooking my bag from the rut in the tree as Ella and Jade burst out laughing, and Scorpius looked incredibly confused.

"I don't get it," he said, dismayed.

"You're a bloke, you wouldn't. It's a ladies joke." I said, unzipping my backpack to look for my wand. Just under the rut I noticed that there was a small carving below it. Realisation hit me as I traced the words that I already knew were carved there. _Rose Minerva Weasley was here, 16_ _th_ _May 2023_.

"Professor." I called, knowing exactly where we were now.

"Not now, Miss Weasley, I'm trying to get us to the Forest of Dean before dark." She said, not looking up from the map.

"Professor, we're already in the Forest of Dean, we have been for about an hour!" I said.

"How do you know, Rose?" Professor Simona said, standing up from her position at the base of a tree and folding away the map as she walked down the slight hill towards me.

"I've been here before." I said, "I made a carving on this tree. We've been here all along, Professor."

"Oh bugger, I'm going to look like even more of an idiot now." She muttered under her breath before waving her wand.

"Alright everyone, we're here, apparently. I've just sent for the tents to come so in the meantime, could you all go and gather some firewood. Miss Marks, Miss Longbottom, there is some steel wool in my backpack, see if you can get something started when they get back." She announced and the babble of chatter between the fifteen students in the class ceased immediately.

"Why don't we just light one with our wands?" Jade asked.

"Oh yes, that reminds me, everyone hand over your wands. You won't be using them at all in the next two days."

There were outraged cries from every member of the class. Our wands were like our hearts, take them away for too long and we'd eventually die. I immediately found myself clutching my wand to my chest protectively. I didn't want to have to spend two days without it.

"Come on hand them over," Professor Simona said, holding her hands out for our wands and one by one we reluctantly parted with them.

"Alright," Professor Simona said, "Some simple rules for this trip." She paused and put her hands on her hips. "No more than five people to a tent, those five people must be of the same gender. Nobody of the opposite gender is allowed in each other's tent after dark. And if any of you decide to break these rules for a little uh… 'horizontal refreshment' then for god's sake, use protection." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked off through the trees.

This was going to be some trip.

* * *

"What the hell!?" Ella exclaimed as the five of us walked into our tent after laboriously putting it up by hand, "Why is it so small? Where's the kitchen, and the bunk beds? Where's the bloody game centre?"

Oh fuck

We were camping in muggle tents.

Legitimate muggle tents.

My life officially sucks.

"What the hell are these?" Phillipa Marzetti asked, looking at the mattresses on the ground. "Are they what we're supposed to sit on instead of chairs?"

"I think we sleep on them…" I said, lifting up the blankets to reveal an air mattress underneath.

"You can't be serious! I'm not sleeping on that, what happened to the five star hotels that all magical tents were supposed to hold?" Jade said. "And if we sleep on these that means that we'll all be sleeping within a bloody inch of each other, I'm not comfortable with that!"

"Jade, you're a lesbian." Ella said.

"I know, but I don't want anyone trying to come onto me, y'know." Jade winked, "only Mae's allowed to do that."

"Oh keep the sexual tension down to a minimum." I said, "Mae's not even here and I can feel it in the air." Rolling my eyes at her, I lay down on a mattress, claiming it as my own. It wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped for, but it would do, it was better than sleeping on the dusty ground though.

"This is horrible." Ella said, lying down on a mattress beside me, "We're really muggles now."

"Tell me about it," I said, looking up at the canopy of the tent as the sky outside darkened to a black colour.

"Fire!" I heard Albus call from outside. Finally, it had only taken them an hour to get it. The boys had managed to get their tent up the fastest so they were tasked with making a fire for us to have dinner over. Okay this was camping at the extreme.

All five of us made for the tent flap immediately, wanting to get to the warmth of the fire desperately, because we didn't have our bloody wands to keep us warm.

By the time we got out there, the boys were roasting something that looked like chicken over the fire. It had obviously been brought with us, because there are no chickens in the forest of Dean… at least not to my knowledge.

The other girls tent were sitting around and talking. I went to sit down on a log around the fire and join in with their conversation when something barged into me from behind.

"Oh, sorry Rose," I turned to see Anna Collins picking herself up from the forest floor and dusting herself off, "I tripped."

"That's okay." I said, waving it off as Anna came to sit down next to us.

"So," I asked everyone at large, "What do you think."

"I thought the tents would be bigger." Tish Marshall said, "but I suppose it's better than sleeping underneath the stars.

"I didn't know we'd have our wands taken off us. Adeola Jones said, "But I guess this is a muggle studies excursion so I don't know what I expected."

All ten of us laughed at that.

"Oi, boys, when will the dinner be ready?" Johanna Lynch called to Scorpius, who was flipping the meat with a long spatula.

"A few minutes, ladies, just wait." Scorpius said, winking at me.

"Imagine what my friends will say when I tell them that I spent two nights camping with hormone ridden teenagers." I heard Professor Simona mutter under her breath and I smiled slightly, rubbing my hands together to warm them in the heat from the orange flames.

It's strange, the effect that a fire can have on you. It draws you in and makes you think more as you stare into its depths. Most of the time I'm not thinking at all when I'm looking into it, just trapped in a sort of limbo between the real world and the world of fire. The dancing flames fascinated me more than anything else as I watched the fire burning away merrily on a piece of wood.

"For you, my fair maiden," Scorpius said, interrupting my thoughts as he shoved a plate of chicken and potatoes in my face.

"Thanks Scorp," I said, taking the plate from him as he sat down next to me.

"Not quite what we were expecting in a camping trip, huh?" Scorpius said after a few moments silence.

"No," I said, picking at my potatoes, "I must admit it's not."

"It's alright though." Scorpius said, "It's not like we're going all swagman are we?"

I snorted, "What's swagman?"

"Oh and I thought you were supposed to be intelligent." Scorpius teased. I pushed him slightly.

"So, tell me what a swagman is?" I said.

"You haven't heard the song?" Scorpius asked. I shook my head, "My, my Rosie. Don't your grandparents live in Australia?"

"Oh so it's Australian is it?" I asked, "Why didn't you say so in the first place and no, Scorpius I don't know the song, sing it for me."

"You know the one, ' _once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong, under the shade of a coolabah tree and he sat and he watched and he waited till his billy boiled, you'll come a- Waltzing Matilda with me'_ " he sung slightly. It rang no bells, "No? Okay you're officially out of the loop, Rosie. That song was playing on the radio for months a few years ago."

"What's it called, I'll ask mum and dad if they've heard it when we get back to school." I asked, straining my brain to think If I'd heard the song.

"It's called Waltzing Matilda by Slim Dusty, he's an Australian artist."

I laughed slightly, "What kind of a name is Slim Dusty?"

"I don't know, ask his parents why don't you." Scorpius said, "anyway, Slim Dusty is beside the point. A swagman is pretty much a homeless person that carries around his belongings on his back looking for work. It's like the Australian equivalent of a hermit really."

"Then I'm glad we're not camping 'swagman' style." I laughed, putting a piece of chicken in my mouth just as Adeola made a call for ghost stories. Dear god, here we go.

I'd honestly heard all six of them before, and they weren't nearly as scary when they were told the second time around. So while everyone else was warily watching the shadows, I was taking advantage of their distraction and finishing off the leftover potatoes.

"Oh, I've got one!" Johanna said, and launched into a tale of some poor woman who was alone in a three story house with a baby.

"I'm going to hit the sack, I'm not sure how much more I can take before I have a mental breakdown." Scorpius said, kissing me on the cheek.

"Aww, is Scorpie scared of the ghost stories?" I said in a mock baby voice.

"No, I'm just a little amazed at how the girls manage to come up with scarier ones than us blokes." He said, standing up. "Night all!" he called, "See you in the morning."

"Night Scorpius." Everyone called back to him. Another good thing about this trip was that everyone seemed to be getting on with everyone. That and Carla Mace wasn't here, _that_ was an absolute blessing.

"I'm going to turn in too," Anna yawned, "I'll fall asleep here if I don't"

"G'night Anna" Everyone chorused and Johanna resumed her story of the 'boom, boom screech'

I found myself staring into the fire again as Johanna recounted the same horror tale that had been Hugo's favourite for years, which, unfortunately meant that I knew every possible way that it could end.

Johanna was almost at the end of her story when there was a small creek from the boy's tent. I looked around to find it shuddering quite violently, like whoever was inside was having a panic attack.

"Shut up for a second, Johanna." I said, rushing towards the tent, because I knew that the only person in there was Scorpius and if he was having a panic attack I would have to be the one to calm him down.

I could hear people following me as I unzipped the tent and stepped inside.

"Scorpius, are you okay?" I hissed into the darkness before I found the button on my flashlight.

I think it was safe to say that I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

Scorpius was completely naked, in the middle of shagging some girl. My jaw dropped open as the girl on top of him looked around.

The girl was me.

What the fuck?


	20. Dress and Tie

"What?" I said, looking bewilderedly from Scorpius to 'myself'. Both Scorpius and 'I' looked up, jumping away from each other abruptly and scrambling for their clothes. Scorpius pulled the covers up to his chin as he looked up at the intruder.

"Rose?" He said bewilderedly, looking from me to my doppelganger and back again.

"What the hell?" The other Rose said as I gestured wildly with my arms, trying to find words to describe the situation. It was almost like I was having an out of body experience. A whole heap of 'what if's' started flooding my mind. What if I had died? What if _I_ was the clone? _Don't be ridiculous Rose; you know you're not the clone_. I told myself firmly.

"Get away from my boyfriend." I said, narrowing my eyes dangerously at 'Rose'.

"What are you on about?" 'Rose' said, "This is _my_ boyfriend."

"Rose, is everything okay in there?" I heard Ella call.

"No," I called back firmly. I heard a scuffling of feet and the sound of Ella and Jade unzipping the tent behind me. I didn't take my eyes off 'Rose' the whole time. I mean what the hell? Am I looking at a past version of myself, Or perhaps a future version?

Blargh, none of this makes any sense!

"What, in the name of god, is happening here…" Ella said from behind me. Her voice sounded as shocked as I felt.

"That's you!" Jade exclaimed, pointing from me to 'Rose'. "What the hell?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" I said through my teeth. "Who are you and what the hell do you want with my boyfriend?"

"Excuse me?" 'Rose' said. "I think that a better question would be, who are _you_ and what the hell do you want with _my_ boyfriend?"

"Oh shut up you know you're not the real Rose, so spill, who are you really?" I snapped.

"This is ridiculous!" 'Rose' exclaimed, "Who do you think you are to barge in here unannounced! I should lodge a complaint with the school!"

"Adeola," I heard Ella call cautiously, "can you grab Professor Simona? We have a little identity problem here."

"A little what?" I heard Adeola ask from outside.

"Just do it." Ella said. Scorpius immediately began pulling his pyjama pants back on as quickly as he could.

"Alright, whoever you are, what the fuck do you want?!" I spat.

"What the fuck do _you_ want?!" The double spat back at me.

"I want you to tell me who the hell you are and why you're posing as me!" I exclaimed.

"Well that makes two of us because I want to know why _you're_ posing as _me_."

"Oh this is how it all ends, Rose arguing with herself, someone else who's as stubborn as a mule at last." Jade tutted, shaking her head at the two of us; I glared pointedly at her and she shut her mouth abruptly.

"Alright, alright, what's going on in he-"Professor Simona said, climbing through the tent flap and stopping quickly at the sight before her eyes. _Holy crap this is awkward_. I thought as Professor Simona ducked back out of the tent at the sight of 'me' standing half naked in the middle of the room.

"I'll come back inside once Miss Weasley is appropriately dressed." She called. I rolled my eyes.

"I _am_ appropriately dressed, Professor" I said, moving to step out of the tent after her.

"I would hardly call standing around in your underwear 'appropriately dressed', Miss Weasley…" She trailed off as I moved to stand beside her. "What the hell?" she said softly, her brow creasing in confusion.

"That's what I want to know." I said. "There's some serious shit going down here, Professor!"

"Language, Miss Weasley." Professor Simona said disapprovingly. Great, we're in the middle of a stupidly weird situation and my teacher is telling me to watch my language. No, I will not watch my language. I just watched myself shagging my boyfriend. That is so completely unbalanced!

"Mister Malfoy, if you could come out here please… and uh Miss Weasley?" she asked, faltering when she realised that she didn't know what to call my mirror image.

"Professor, that's not me!" I protested.

"Yes, I know that, Miss Weasley, but please just bear with me for the moment." She said patiently as Scorpius and 'I' stepped outside of the tent.

"What the hell?" I heard Adeola say from behind Professor Simona, Ella and Jade. "But… but how is Rose there _and_ there?"

"Shit." Scorpius said, "Two girlfriends,"

"Miss Jones," Professor Simona said, turning to Adeola, "If you and Miss Lynch could go and wake Miss Collins then that would be great."

"But why?" Adeola asked stubbornly, "What's Anna got to do with any of this?"

"Just go and do it, alright." Professor Simona said, on the verge of snapping at her. Adeola didn't question her twice and she and Johanna headed off in the direction of their tent.

Professor Simona turned back to us, "Okay, now what is going on?"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed, "I was sitting around the campfire with everyone else and we were telling ghost stories and I saw the tent shaking, thought Scorpius was having a panic attack and came in to look after him, only to find _her_ shagging him!"

"She should've left us alone!" 'Rose' exclaimed. "It wasn't her business!"

"I'm sorry, I don't think you understand me. You were shagging _my_ boyfriend!" I exclaimed.

"No, I was shagging _my_ boyfriend." 'Rose' protested.

Jade snickered and all eyes snapped to her.

"What?" Jade asked, still chuckling slightly. "Rose is arguing with herself, some could perceive that as going mental… however we can all see her arguing with herself which makes it doubly funny." Jade said.

"Not the time, thanks Jade." I said through gritted teeth, looking back at 'Rose' and Professor Simona. "Professor, please listen to me. She's some weird clone thing, I'm the real Rose!"

"What the hell?" 'Rose' exclaimed, "No she's not, _I'm_ the real Rose, don't listen to her, Professor." I was honestly this far away from slapping her. Oh Jesus that's a weird thought. I'm this far away from slapping myself. Fuck, my life is so completely messed up.

"Professor, Professor, Anna isn't in the tent!" Adeola yelled as she and Johanna ran back across from the second girls tent. Professor Simona was suddenly alert as Adeola arrived back at her side, holding something out to her. "We found this on the ground beside of her bed."

Professor Simona took the flask from Adeola's hand and flipped it open. I trained my flashlight on it so that she could see inside. She sloshed the liquid around and it made a small glugging noise. Now that wasn't water.

"Just what I suspected…" Professor Simona said, snapping the flask shut abruptly and stowing it inside her robes, "Polyjuice potion."

"What!?" 'Rose' and I exclaimed. Well of course, this explained everything. Someone had managed to get a hold of my hairs and transform into me, therefore making it as easy as pie to shag Scorpius. But who?

"Alright, you two, sitting around the campfire now." Professor Simona said, grabbing both of us roughly by the arms and pulling us over to the fire. Wonderful, now the whole class would know my predicament.

There were several murmurs of 'what the hell?' while most people's faces held confused expressions. I looked over at the 'other Rose' to try and see if she was showing any sign of cracking. She wasn't. Her expression was as angry and confused as mine was. Damn she's a good actor.

"Sit." Professor Simona said, pointing at a spare log. The two of us sat without question. That was when it hit me. Nobody knew the truth, that I was the real Rose, and with no Veritaserum on hand, we couldn't use the truth telling serum either.

"Miss Longbottom, am I correct in assuming that you have known Miss Weasley the longest?" Professor Simona said, turning to Ella.

"Yes," Ella said, "I have."

"Then you will be able to tell me which one is which." Professor Simona said.

"Well, I would be able to, but there's the small problem of them being totally identical." Ella said.

"Oh for the love of Gryffindor, can we just get on with it!?" 'Rose' said. I saw Ella's eyes perk up. I knew that look, Ella was onto something.

"Alright," Ella said slyly and I could practically hear the cogs turning in Ella's brain as she spoke, "Rose on the left," she said, pointing to the other Rose, "What grade did you get for your transfiguration OWL in fifth year?"

"Isn't it obvious, Ella, I got an 'O'" other Rose said, shaking her head at Ella's stupidity. Oh shit, there I go again, wanting to slap myself.

"Okay, Rose on the right, what grade did you get for your Care of Magical Creatures OWL in fifth year?" Ella asked me.

I looked down at the ground and scuffed my feet, "An 'O'" I said softly, not wanting to boast and make anyone else feel bad.

"Alright then, Rose on the left, how long have you liked Scorpius for?"

"Since first year," other Rose said dreamily, "He was so perfect and cute and handsome."

"Professor, that's the real Rose." Ella said, pointing at me, "Case closed."

"What?" other Rose said, shocked, "No, I'm the real Rose. You _know_ it's me Ella,"

"No, you're not. a) Rose would never, ever boast about getting an O in Transfiguration because everyone _knows_ that she's top of the class and she doesn't want to rub it in their faces. B) Rose only started liking Scorpius just before the Christmas Holidays this year and c) Rose would never _ever_ say 'for the love of Gryffindor' it would more likely be either 'for fucks sake' or 'for the love of god'" Ella said, "So my question is, why are you attracted to Scorpius Malfoy, Anna Collins?"

"Fine," other Rose spat, "You've got me."

"Good," Professor Simona said, "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"Polyjuice potion," I spat. Now that I had been deemed myself (something that I had known all along) I felt the anger come through. How dare Anna use me like that? How dare she pose as me to try and shag _my_ boyfriend?

"Marvellous stuff," Anna said, winking at me. That is also another thing that nobody should see in their lifetime.

"How did you get my hair?" I asked, remembering one of the crucial ingredients in the Polyjuice potion. Anna just grinned at me and I remembered her tripping into me earlier. Damn she was smart.

"Why?" I asked, my voice laced with fury.

"Because he could do so much better than _you_ ," Anna said, "He could have anyone but he went for you. I just wanted to see what was so appealing."

"You are so completely unhinged." I said, stepping back from Anna, who was still in my form. I glanced over at Scorpius, who seemed to have a permanent expression of horror tattooed on his face. Who wouldn't if they knew they'd just slept with someone disguised as their girlfriend. There's no way I could be mad at him for this, but somehow I was. I seethed at the thought of him sleeping with Anna, even though he thought that Anna was me, which technically meant that he was sleeping with me, it was like another person in my skin. Oh god that makes sense in a horrifying sort of way. No, that's something that _shouldn't_ make sense. Dear god, Rose, turn off your mind for a moment!

"Well, it looks like we won't have to wait long before she transforms back." Jade said, coming to stand beside me. I looked back at Anna to see her wearing a look of intense discomfort as some of her features started to distort; another thing that nobody should have to witness when they're the person that is starting to distort.

"Well, we won't be staying any longer, that's for sure." Professor Simona announced, marching out of her own tent with a box in her hands. "Here, take your wands. We're going back to school as soon as it is light enough to see."

There were cries of outrage from various points around the fire.

"We always have someone spoiling it for us." Adeola said bitterly, "First it was Beauxbatons now its bloody Anna."

"Yes, well, Miss Collins, you will be receiving detention for the rest of the year as a result of this." Professor Simona said. "It would proceed into next year, but as you are in your final year at school, we will have to settle with this year."

To be honest, I don't think Anna heard her, she had doubled over and was twitching quite hard as the red hair that belonged to me was replaced by brown curls.

"Bloody hell," I said as she looked up, fully transformed back into herself. However, contrary to our original beliefs, she wasn't Anna Collins, she was Carla Mace. What was wrong with this girl!? She was already pregnant with Kieran Boot's kid and now she tries to shag my boyfriend _again_ as me. Honestly, how low can you go?

"Carla," Scorpius spat, "I should've guessed."

"Miss Mace?" Professor Simona said, shocked as Carla looked around at all of us with a smug grin on her face. "What are you doing here? Headmistress McGonagall told me that you were staying in the Hospital wing."

"You were misinformed." Carla sneered.

"Hang on a second," Albus said, "If Carla was posing as Rose, then where's Anna?"

For the first time, I didn't have an answer for Albus which could have 'you idiot' added onto the end.

Carla laughed, "She's in the hospital wing by now. I made sure that she could be found."

I looked back at her, disgusted, "What did you do to Anna?"

"I just knocked her out; it's no big deal, Rosie pie." Carla said innocently.

"Don't call me that." I said dangerously, wishing that I had picked up my wand out of the box a few seconds ago so that I could point it at her.

"What would you like me to call you then? Rosie Posie?" she cackled. I turned around to face her twin brother, Bradley.

"A little help here, Bradley." I said, looking at him pleadingly. Unlike Carla, Brad was some kind of decent. However, Bradley shook his head.

"Sorry Rose, she's mad, completely mad. She's gone the same way as our mother."

He said, his eyes wide with fear. Oh god, please no more family inheritances.

"Rose," Jade said softly, handing me my wand, "C'mon, let's go to bed."

I accepted the thin stick of wood, happy to have it back in my hand again and, forcing myself not to curse Carla right then and there; I walked back over to the tent and slipped inside.

Right then and there I didn't care about anything, save for the fact that Carla fucking Mace had tried to intervene with Scorpius and my relationship _again_. There was only one place for that girl and that was locked up somewhere safe where she couldn't find us again.

I didn't care about the uncomfortableness of the air mattress (although I could've transfigured it if I wanted to, now that I had my wand back) I didn't care that the tents were too small and stuffy. I just wanted to fall asleep and forget that all of the events of the night ever happened.

* * *

When I woke the next morning, I wished that I _had_ transfigured the bed because I found it almost impossible to move, my back was that sore.

"Bloody Hell," I murmured, "Last time I _ever_ go camping in muggle tents." I muttered as the sun forced its way into the tent and pried open my eyelids along with the rest of us sleeping inside.

"My back is killing me!" Jade moaned, turning over in an attempt to make herself a little more comfortable.

"Shit, that's bright." Ella said attempting to pull the covers back over her head as Phillipa and Maria, the other two girls that we were sharing a tent with, grumbled in various states of waking up.

"Up, Up, Up Girls!" Professor Simona said, shaking the tent in an attempt to wake us all up. It was then that the events of last night came rushing back to me. The fun stuff first (thank god) but then came the bad stuff. Finding 'myself' shagging my boyfriend, finding out that 'myself' was actually Anna Collins, but then proceeding to find out that Anna Collins was Carla Mace who had decided to try her luck with Scorpius again.

It made my head spin at this hour of the morning.

Wishing I knew what the time was, I forced myself to get up and make myself look at least semi presentable. Okay, I wasn't going to do anything to make myself look presentable; I was too exhausted and confused for that. If people didn't like my morning bedhead frizz, that was their problem.

"Get up," I said, nudging Jade with my foot and tossing my pillow at Ella, "We're going."

"Shit." Ella moaned, trying to force her eyes open. Jade didn't move a muscle. She had gone back to sleep. Not for long however, because no sooner had I leaned down to yell in her ear, a loud horn sounded making me jump a foot in the air and jerking Jade, Ella, Maria and Phillipa out of their slumbers.

"Talk about rude wakeup calls." Jade muttered, rubbing her eyes as she sat up in bed. "I can't wait to get back to school."

"Jade Marks, Ella Longbottom, Rose Weasley, Phillipa Marzetti and Maria Trape if you do not get up within the next minute I will pack your tent up on top of you." Professor Simona's voice called from outside.

"She means that." I said, taking Jade's hand and pulling her up into a standing position. "Come on, let's get out of here." I said, clapping my hands together and turning around to unzip the flap.

I stepped outside of the tent to see everyone ready and waiting to go. Somehow, the other girls tent and the boys had managed to get up before us and pack up in record speed. Granted, all of them were still in their pyjamas and I was sure that Tish Marshall was sleeping on her feet, but nonetheless they were ready and we weren't.

Jade, Ella, Maria and Phillipa joined me outside within the next twenty seconds and with the aid of Jade and Ella the tent folded itself up into neat pile and with another wave, jumped into the bag with the other two, which promptly zipped itself up. If only we'd been able to use magic to set up the tents we could've had a lot more fun on this trip.

"Thanks, Pip." I said as Phillipa handed me my rucksack which she had extracted from the tent moments before we took it down.

"Alright, now that we're all ready to go, we will apparate back to Hogsmeade in pairs. I will go last to make sure that you don't try to stay here an extra day. Once in Hogsmeade you will wait for your classmates and then head straight back up to the school and to your dormitories while I converse with the Headmistress about the events." Professor Simona said, "Are we clear?"

There was a mumbled yes from the class.

Ella and I paired up as Adeola and Johanna disapparated together, followed by Bradley and Albus, then Tish and Olivia, Scorpius and Corey, Maria and Phillipa, Jade and Daniel and then finally Ella and I.

The familiar squeezing sensation hit me immediately and I willed myself to go faster towards my destination. My feet slammed into solid ground seconds later and I staggered into Jade who had evidently just landed as well.

"Sorry," I mumbled sleepily, "Still not fully awake yet."

"I know the feeling." Jade said as Professor Simona and Carla appeared beside Ella and I.

We walked in silence back up to the school, the only sounds that could be heard were the crunch of our feet on the gravel. Nobody had anything to say. Nobody _wanted_ to say anything. Everyone was in a mutual decision and that was that this trip would never be mentioned again.

* * *

"Do you know what's happening with Carla yet?" Rio asked me a month later as we played exploding snap in the common room. Well, more like she and Ella were playing exploding snap and I was studying. NEWT's were fast approaching and I'd be damned if I went into them without revising.

"No, she's still confined to the Hospital Wing 24/7, but otherwise no news." I replied, "Why?"

"Just wondering." Rio shrugged, putting down a card and making the deck explode. I rolled my eyes at them as they both started roaring with laughter and went back to my Arithmancy notes, trying to forget the events that had occurred last month.

Considering the disaster that the trip had been, the class had gotten off with a long lecture from Professor Simona about two things. The first was misbehaviour on an out of school excursion, the second was on the illegal use of a potion that students weren't allowed to have in their possession. I didn't see the point of them telling us this, seeing as Carla had been the one to commit the crime but I guess they just want us to be aware of the consequences.

"We're going dress sopping tomorrow!" Jade said, skipping into the common room through the portrait hole with Mae trailing behind her.

"Dress shopping?" I said, raising one eyebrow at them, "For what?"

"For the formal, dummy," Jade said, rolling her eyes, "You know, the end of exams formal."

"Oh, that one," I said, the name jogging something in my memory, "Should be fun."

"It's going to be amazing!" Mae squealed, "Do you guys want to come with us to Hogsmeade and pick out your dresses too?"

"Yeah, whatever." Rio shrugged.

"I'm in." Ella said. I looked from my work to my friends who were all looking at me with the same 'forget the work and have fun for once' expression on their faces.

"Fine, I'll come too." I conceded.

"Great!" Mae said, jumping up and down.

"Only if it's alright if I bring Scorpius, only I said I'd spend time with him tomorrow as well."

"Yeah sure, bring your boyfriend if you must, but don't gross us out with huge snogging displays."

"Alright then," I laughed, "It's a deal."

* * *

"Hey," Scorpius said as I stood in the Entrance Hall the next morning, "What've we got planned for today."

"You don't mind shopping do you? Only I promised the girls that I'd go with them in their search for formal dresses." I said tentatively as I stood on tiptoe to give him a kiss.

"Nah, that's fine. I need a pair of new dress robes anyway. Maybe we can find some stuff for me along the way too?"

"I think we most certainly can." I said, taking his hand with a small laugh and leading him down the stone steps at the front of the castle. "So, how've you been lately? I haven't seen you much."

"I've been busy studying," I said promptly, "I can't go into NEWTS without doing any revision."

Scorpius laughed, "Typical Rose, has to be practically perfect in every way."

"Was that a reference to muggle literature?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

"Yes, Mary Poppins, if I'm correct." Scorpius said as we reached the start of the Hogsmeade road. He linked his arm through mine as we walked down the street towards Glad Rags Wizard Wear where everyone bought their dress robes for formal occasions.

"You are." I said with a laugh, "What's making you so muggle educated nowadays?"

"I don't know, it might be the fact that a certain someone who I love with all my heart is particularly fond of muggle literature and I would like to talk with her about it sometime." Scorpius said, kissing my cheek.

"And who would that be?" I asked.

"Well, she's sweet, and kind, and has beautiful red hair. She has a huge family and loves me with all her heart too… or at least I think she does." Scorpius added hastily.

"You're such a dork." I laughed, hitting him playfully as we reached Glad Rags Wizard Wear. "And she does love you."

"Hey, Rosie! Hey Scorpius!" Rio said, running over towards us, "We've already found the most beautiful dresses in the world, come and try some on."

"Oh bloody hell here we go." I muttered to Scorpius as Rio dragged me off into a corner where She, Ella, Jade and Mae already had at least a hundred dresses lined up to be tried on. Honestly, you'd think they'd just pulled them all off the shelf or something.

"It's such a good thing Rose bought you along," Rio said to Scorpius, "Then you can tell us whether you like our dresses or not from a bloke's point of view."

"Yeah, sure," Scorpius said, sitting down on the windowsill, "I'm ready."

"Alright then, Rose, you first." Jade said.

"What? Why do I have to go first?" I asked indignantly.

"Because it's your boyfriend that's judging the dresses." Jade said happily, tossing me a dress and sending me into the changing room. Grumbling, I undressed from my jeans and t-shirt and stepped into the dress. It was a light flowing material that felt really nice against my skin but I was sure looked utterly horrible on me.

I unlocked the door of the changing cubicle to 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from Jade, Mae, Ella and Rio.

"Rose that suits you so well!" Rio exclaimed, "What do you think Scorpius."

"It looks great on you Rosie." Scorpius smiled. I shook my head.

"No it doesn't, I look horrible." I said, catching sight of myself in the mirror and was almost repulsed by what I saw. "God no, I'm not wearing that." I grabbed the nearest dress on the pile and headed back into the changing rooms to try it on.

Dress after Dress I tried on but none of them seemed to look good on me, despite what Scorpius and the others were saying. They just didn't represent me enough. They didn't look like something that I would wear.

"Let's take a break from dresses and let Scorpius try on some dress robes." I said, around three hours later as I discarded yet another dress onto a pile of 'no good' ones.

"Sounds like a good idea," Ella said. She and Jade had already decided on their dresses over an hour ago while Rio, Mae and I remained convinced that every dress we tried on looked bad on us.

Scorpius jumped up eagerly and walked over to the men's section. All five of us trailed after him, eager to help him pick a pair of dress robes.

"What about these ones?" Rio said, lifting up a pair of deep purple ones and shoving them in Scorpius' face.

"No," Scorpius said politely, "I know what I'm looking for."

All five of us were taken aback. I don't think that there was one point in my life that I'd gone into a shop and known what I was looking for. We all dispersed from around him quite quickly after that, with Ella and Jade paying for their dresses and Rio and Mae going back to try and find the perfect one.

I, on the other hand browsed in the isle next to Scorpius, looking at all of the different ties that they offered here, from the smart, to the downright outrageous.

"Hey Scorpius," I laughed, picking up a tie that was blue with white polka dots. "I dare you to wear this."

Scorpius peered around the shelf at me holding up the tie. "No," He said flatly, still browsing for his dress robes.

"Come on, Scorpius, I'll wear that dress." I said, pointing at the blue and white polka-dotted dress that was next in my 'try-on' pile, "If you wear this tie."

Scorpius glanced over at the dress and grinned at me. "Rose, you've got yourself a deal."

 _Oh shit_ I thought as I tossed him the tie to try on. _Now I have to wear that dress._

Reluctantly, I walked back over to the changing rooms and slipped out of the previous dress that I had been wearing and pulled on the one that I would be wearing on the formal night, whether I liked it or not.

I did like the dress design in general, it was a sort of nineteen seventies style with frilly sleeves and a scoop neck. I doubted that it would fit me, or even look good on me but as I zipped it up at the back I found that it fit perfectly. Not too loose, not too tight.

Nervously, I stepped out into the room and caught sight of myself in the mirror and for the first time that day I felt like I actually looked good in something.

"We'll dance the night away looking like this." Scorpius said, leaning over my shoulder and giving me a kiss on the cheek. "You look amazing, my love."

That was all I needed to hear.

I bought the dress immediately.


	21. I'll Remember

_Oh great, it's that time of year again…_ I thought as I caught sight of the sign on the noticeboard outside the Great Hall after breakfast.

_Students will be allowed out of classes at twelve o'clock on the 2nd of May 2025 to attend the War Memorial in Hogsmeade. The following students will be exempt from classes for the whole day in order to spend time with their families._

I scanned down the list of students to find my name, along with the numerous other Weasley's and Potters at the school. It was always like this, every second of May since I'd been at Hogwarts I'd gotten the day off to go and spend time with my family. It was stupid really, everyone had lost at least one family member in the war and the fact that they weren't as famous as us shouldn't exempt them from having the day off.

"Hey," Scorpius said from behind me and I felt his hands snake around my waist as he hugged me from behind.

"Hi." I said, turning around and placing a soft kiss on his cheek, "Looking forward to the service in Hogsmeade?" I jabbed my thumb at the list on the school noticeboard.

"Always am," Scorpius said sarcastically, "I love hearing about how my father and grandfather helped kill at least one family member of the entire assembly, no matter how indirectly they reference it."

I laughed slightly, "Just remember that none of that refers to you, you're not like them, Scorpius."

"I know that," Scorpius chuckled, "I just don't like the way that the little old man looks at me when I sit near my parents."

"Well come and sit by me and my family then, I'm sure they won't mind. They're going to have to get used to you eventually." I said as he laced his fingers through mine and we walked out of the oak front doors. "That would be great, thanks Rosie," Scorpius said, "Although my father probably won't be too happy about it, he's got way too much family pride shoved up his arse."

I snorted with laughter, "I'll second that comment. I'm surprised that my dad can keep the family pride contained with the amount of it that he has."

"Ah family…" Scorpius said, his eyes twinkling as the warmth of the summer sun hit our faces. It was unnaturally warm for April, but nobody was complaining. The bitter English winters weren't anyone's cup of tea, and what better way to spend a Saturday than lounging around in the sunny grounds.

"Say, Miss Weasley, would you like to accompany me on a walk around the lake?" Scorpius said, offering his hand to me in a mock formal way.

"I'd be delighted, good sir." I said, curtsying as best I could in my jeans and taking his hand. It felt good to be out in public with Scorpius again. All the talk about us had died down relatively quickly, but that didn't stop everyone from turning to stare at us as we walked hand in hand through the grounds towards the lake.

"It's hard to believe that next month we'll be on our way home from Hogwarts for good." Scorpius said as we swung our hands back and forth between us.

"Oh, I don't know." I said with a smile, "I think I'll come back and teach here."

"Really?" Scorpius said, looking a little taken aback.

"Yes," I laughed, "What's so shocking about that?"

"Just the fact that you've been here for seven years now and you want to return to teach…" Scorpius shrugged. I hit him.

"It may have escaped your notice, but all of the teachers are Hogwarts graduates themselves." I said as Scorpius rubbed his arm. "Besides, there's something about this place that I just can't leave behind, y'know?"

"No, I don't actually." Scorpius said, letting go of my hand and plonking himself down on one of the banks and kicking off his shoes, letting his feet dangle in the water that sloshed gently against it, eroding the sand.

"Whatever." I said, sitting down next to him and allowing him to put his arm around me.

We sat like that for a while in silence, just letting the sun beat down on us and basking in each other's presence. It wasn't every day that we could do this and not be disturbed. It was probably the quietest moment I'd had in a long time. What, with my many obnoxious cousins that feel the need to make noise at every single possible moment.

I felt Scorpius' hand move up and start to stroke my hair, twirling it around his finger as he did so.

"You know, when I thought that your hair would set fire to anything it touched, I didn't think that fire would be this soft." Scorpius teased and I swatted playfully at him.

"You're impossible." I said.

"No, I'm an incredibly charming sponge." Scorpius grinned.

"You are amazingly self-assured, has anyone ever told you that?" I asked, leaning back against him and he resumed the stroking of my hair.

"I tell myself that every day." Scorpius said and I laughed softly and craned my neck to look up at him. He smiled down at me and pressed his lips to mine.

"How did we end up falling for each other?" I mused as he pulled away, "I mean, we'd hated each other for years and our families weren't exactly on the best of terms."

"I have absolutely no idea. I just woke up one morning and was like 'shit, I'm in love with Rose, what the fuck do I do now?'" I giggled slightly and he continued. "What was it like for you?"

"I'm not sure," I said slightly, my brow creasing. "I know that I full on hated you at the beginning of the year – oh stop that!" I said as Scorpius put a hand over his chest in mock hurt. Scorpius grinned at me cheekily. I shook my head at him and continued. "Anyway, I really hated you at the start of the year and then you asked me to tutor you and I started not hating you, even though you were the most infuriating person on the planet and when I found out that being a dickhead to me wasn't your fault, I just started feeling sorry for you and then I started to fall for you."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I hated you at the start of the year too." Scorpius said, poking me in the stomach and making me shriek with laughter and squirm to get away from him.

"Lovely Scorpius," I said, "very comforting to know that."

"Of course it is," He said, lying down and stretching out underneath the shade of a small tree that sat by the bank. "Do you ever think about the future?" he asked, putting his hands behind his head as a makeshift pillow as I lay down next to him.

"I like to live in the moment." I said. "But yes, I have thought about the future, briefly."

"What do you want to do, apart from coming back to teach at Hogwarts, of course." He asked curiously.

"Well, I'd like to graduate firstly." I said, "Then I'll move out of home into an apartment with Ella where I'll get an initial job at the Department for the Regulation and Control Of Magical Creatures. I'll do that for three years and then I'll get married. After four years of being married I'll have my first child, then two years after that, my second. A year after that, I'll have my third and when the third one is five I'll return to Hogwarts to teach transfiguration, McGonagall can't teach forever."

"Wow," Scorpius said, looking at me with an awed smile, "You've got it all planned out, you must've had way too much time on your hands when you were younger."

"Why? Didn't you?" I asked.

"Well, I suppose every kid thinks about their future." Scorpius said, "but I didn't think it out to as much detail as you have." He laughed, "I think I just thought it out to the point where I'd get married and have children somewhere in my twenties."

"So you just assumed that you'd meet the right girl by then?" I asked as he caressed my cheek.

"I think I already have." He said with a wink and pressed his lips to mine and it felt as though I had met the right bloke already too.

* * *

"See you at twelve, Rosie." Rio said as we parted ways in the Entrance Hall on the morning of May 2nd.

"See you then," I said as she and Mae walked off in the direction of Arithmancy and Jade and Ella walked off to muggle studies. I gave a small wave to all of them and proceeded to join the rest of my cousins who were mulling around the doors.

"Shall we go?" I said to the party of five that still remained in the school (we would meet the rest down there)

"Suits me fine," Albus shrugged, "we're going to have to go sometime."

The truth was, none of us really liked the second of May. It was just a depressing get together where everyone remembered people that we kids had never met in our lives. We remained sombre and the boys refrained from pulling pranks for the sake of everyone else who was there to honour people who had died.

When I was younger and mum and dad had brought us along to the Hogsmeade services I'd had no idea why everyone got so upset, but as I'd grown up and Mum and Dad had told me more and more about the war, I'd stopped being a nuisance at the services and snapped at the younger children who still had no idea.

Another reason why I hated May 2nd was the fact that it was Victoire's birthday and trust me, she _never_ had a good one. Everyone was always too sad or too caught up in other things to remember that it was not only Uncle Fred's and everyone else who had died in the war's deathday, but it was also Victoire's birthday. As Vic had got older she'd stopped caring, she'd realised that yes it was her birthday but it was also a day of mourning, not a day of celebration.

Still. It didn't stop me from bringing her a small gift every year though, just to show her that we didn't completely forget.

"Hi Rosie," thirteen-year-old Molly said glumly, falling into step beside me, "Ready for another service?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I said. "You?"

"No," Molly said, "I don't want to see Lucy."

"Why?" I asked curiously. Normally Molly couldn't wait to see her older sister, although admittedly I didn't want to see her either.

"Because she hasn't answered any of my letters and I'm scared that she's mad at me."

"She's not mad at you," Lily said, falling into step beside Molly and clapping her on the shoulder, "She's just a bitch."

"Hey! Don't talk about my sister like that!" Molly said indignantly.

"It's true," Lily shrugged, "You know what she did to Hugo."

"That wasn't her fault! He tripped and fell off. She was just angry and pushed him to prove a point." Molly said.

"Oh Molly," Lily laughed, "You don't know the half of it my dear cousin."

"Yes I do! Lucy told me-" she started but Lily interrupted her with another laugh.

"Why would you listen to anything that _she_ tells you?" Lily asked, "she's a lying, conniving bitch."

"I hate you." Molly said, glaring at Lily angrily, tears welling in her brown eyes.

"Stop it," I said as Albus, Louis and Hugo turned around to join in the fight, "we're supposed to be a family."

"How can you side with Molly?" Lily said, looking at me with her mouth slightly open. "You hate Lucy just as much as we do!"

"I'm not siding with anyone; I'm just saying that we should be a family and agree to disagree." I said.

"Why can't you all just forgive her? I thought that you had ages ago. You all kept telling Rose that she had to forgive and forget but you haven't even forgiven her yourselves." Molly fumed.

"You heard what she said to Hugo." Lily said dangerously, "How can you forgive her after that?"

"Because she's my sister!" Molly exploded, "and she's your cousin! You shouldn't treat her like this; she's depressed enough as it is!"

"Lucy's depressed?" Louis said, looking at Lily and I quizzically, "Since when?"

"See!" Molly said, "You're all too busy hating her that you couldn't see that she'd started cutting herself, you couldn't see that she'd stopped eating anything. Even if you did then I doubt that you'd care anyway."

"Molly-" I tried as she stalked off towards the entrance to Hogsmeade.

"What is the point in being a family if we can't be there for each other? What the hell is the point of being a family if you can't forgive and forget once in a while? Because that's what families do, _they forgive each other!_ " she screamed the last few words and ran off.

"Maybe we should talk to Lucy." Albus said, "I think we've been a little too harsh on her, don't you think Hugh?"

"Yeah," Hugo said, "I don't like her at all, but like Molly said, what's the point of being a family if we can't forgive each other."

* * *

"Does my hair look alright, Rose?" Mum asked me a few hours later as she stood just offstage fiddling with the piece of parchment which held her speech. Each year either she, Uncle Harry or Dad gave a speech and this year it was her turn.

"Yes mum, it looks fine." I said for the eighth time, "Stop freaking out."

Mum rolled her eyes at me.

"You teenagers, you're all the same." She said, shaking her head and hurrying off to get a second opinion. She always did no matter how much I complimented her or told her that she looked fine.

I turned to go and find Victoire to give her the present that I'd picked out for her on the last Hogsmeade visit only to find myself face to face with none other than Lucy and Hugo.

"Rose," Lucy said, smiling weakly at me and my eyes immediately flicked down to her arms, the scars there confirming what Molly said when she'd told us that Lucy had started cutting herself, "I'd love it if I could have a word with you and Hugo in private."

I glanced quickly at Hugo who nodded once.

"Alright," I said curtly, "but let's make it quick." And with that she turned around and walked out of the hall that we were holding the memorial in and walked towards the war monument that had been erected in the middle of the square nearly twenty-six years ago.

"What's this about, Lucy?" I asked as Hugo and I reached where she was standing.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry." Lucy said, "I didn't have any right to insult Hugo and I didn't mean for him to get hurt in any way."

I looked at her quizzically, this wasn't the first time that she'd apologised to us, and all of the previous times we'd just come out of it even more pissed off than before. What did she think would make this time any different?

"I know that I've apologised so many times before, but I've just recently discovered myself and I wanted you two to be the first to know."

Hugo and I glanced at each other, but said nothing. Lucy took a deep breath and continued.

"What I'm trying to say is that I didn't have any right to say what I said to Hugo when I wasn't completely sure about myself."

It was then that I finally caught on to what she was trying to say.

"You mean-" I started, looking at her with a knowing expression.

"Yes." Lucy said shortly.

"You're a lesbian?" I finished, looking at Lucy in surprise. Lucy nodded slowly, her cheeks flushing. I folded my arms, impressed. I couldn't imagine how much courage it must've taken to come out to us when she'd so clearly been completely and utterly homophobic a year ago.

She turned to Hugo, "Listen, Hugh, I'm so sorry about last year. I can't even express how sorry I am for saying those things to you. I was dumb and stupid and blind and I'm so, so sorry."

To my complete surprise, Hugo threw himself at her and hugged her. "You're forgiven." He said, "Completely forgiven."

I was shocked, to say the least. I hadn't expected this at all. From Lucy's expression, she hadn't either.

"It's always how it works, isn't it?" Hugo said, breaking off the hug and smiling at Lucy, "The person who doesn't know for sure that they're straight bullies the gay kid, only to find out that they're gay themselves… and before you say anything more, Lucy. You're forgiven, just remember that, okay?"

"O-okay," Lucy said faintly.

"So," I said, hitching a smile onto my face as my heart immediately warmed towards her. It was as if because Hugo had forgiven her, I was slowly forgiving her too, "Have you got yourself a girlfriend then?"

"Yeah," Lucy said breathlessly, "Her name's Amber and she should be here within the next minute." She said, consulting her watch.

"I'm happy for you, Lucy." I said with a smile. Lucy grinned back at me before opening her mouth to day something.

"I'm-" she started, but I held up a hand.

"I know you're sorry, and I forgive you because you've found yourself, apologised and had the courage to tell us all in one go."

"Thank you." Lucy whispered gratefully as a tall, slender girl wearing blue midriff top, leather pants and combat boots appeared beside Lucy.

"Hey, Lucy-Lou." The girl said, leaning over and kissing Lucy's cheek, "Who are these gingers?"

I frowned slightly, it had been a long time since someone had called me a ginger, normally it was just 'Weasley'.

"Uh, this is Rose and Hugo, my cousins." She said to the girl, "Rose, Hugo, this is Amber, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rose." I said politely offering my hand to her. Amber took it uncertainly.

"Amber." She said with a slight smile.

"Nice boots." Hugo said, stepping forward and offering Amber his hand.

"Thanks," she said, taking his hand and shaking it, "I didn't know what to wear so I figured I'd just go for every day dress."

I felt my eyes widen in my head. _This_ was every day dress for Amber? I wouldn't wear that unless it was the end of the world.

"So, where are these parents of yours?" Amber asked, taking Lucy's hand.

"In there," Lucy said, leading Amber towards the hall where the first students were starting to file in.

As I watched them go, my brain fully started to process things. Lucy was lesbian, Lucy had a girlfriend, Hugo and I had just forgiven Lucy. Okay, this is going to be a long and confusing day…

"We'd better go in and sit down; the service will be starting soon." Hugo said, starting to walk back towards the hall. I nodded and followed after him, wondering if I'd ever figure out why I had forgiven Lucy so easily.

* * *

Hours later the little wizard who was always present at anyone's wedding, funeral or memorial finished up his speech and began to announce the next event.

"I will now call on Mrs Hermione Weasley to address the assembly." He said. All eyes were trained on my mother as she walked up the aisle between the two sides of the room and onto the stage. I could vaguely remember the last one of these that she had done back in fourth year. It had all been bitterly similar to the others that Dad and Uncle Harry did year in year out, but I had a slight feeling in my stomach that this was going to be a different sort of year.

"Hello Everyone, I'm sure you all know me by now, but for those who don't, my name is Hermione Weasley and I take it in turns with my best friend, Harry Potter and my husband, Ron Weasley to do the speech for the service each year. But that's enough about me."

She paused slightly as she rearranged her notes.

"We are all gathered here today to mark the twenty-seventh anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. Twenty-seven years ago today people fought against the death eaters. Twenty-seven years ago today, people lost their loved ones. Twenty-seven years ago today, we united as the wizarding community and brought down the evillest wizard who ever lived. But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here… _we're_ here to celebrate and mourn those who died for us, so that we could keep on living. Twenty-seven years ago today, mothers lost sons, brothers lost brothers, sisters lost sisters, sons lost fathers, sisters lost brothers and mothers lost daughters. Most of us sitting here today are still left with the scars that we suffered twenty-seven years ago. We are no closer to healing now that we were back then and that's fine, because forgetting the past means being condemned to repeat it and I think you will all agree with me when I say that we don't want to repeat the events of twenty-seven years ago.

"Remembering the past is a very important thing. It is what keeps you whole and essentially what keeps you knowing that you're alive. The past must be remembered in order for us to be able to change the future; otherwise we'll just be stuck in a never ending cycle of the same things being repeated over and over again. This is what the people who died all those years ago died for, the future. They died so that their brothers, sisters or children could have a better future free of discrimination. So please, the next time you judge someone on their looks, their blood type, their house or even their sexual orientation, please remember that everyone deserves to be treated equally, no matter which family, race, or ethnic background, we are all one because we all share a piece of history, a piece that will never be forgotten."

She flipped the page of her notes over and repositioned the microphone.

"I'd like to leave you with an old war poem that I heard as a child. It goes like this: They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor do the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them, lest we forget."

Everyone knew the drill by now. All three hundred rows of people stood as one and bowed their heads in respect to the fallen. Mum was right, May 2nd was a day that nobody would ever forget.

* * *

"Eleanor, my dear, where were you last night?" I asked the next morning as Ella walked into the Great Hall for breakfast about half an hour after we had.

"Nowhere." Ella said quickly as she sat down next to Jade on the opposite side of the table and helped herself to some toast.

"Liar," I smirked, leaning across the table, "Where were you really?"

"I told you, nowhere." Ella insisted. Her face told us otherwise, however as it immediately turned a bright red.

"You are so lying Ella, tell me where you were." I said, slapping her hand as she reached for a bread roll. She looked down and mumbled something inaudible.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that." I said and Ella looked up, her face was the same colour of the tomato sauce that Jade had on her egg.

"I said that I was with Albus."

"What, all night?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Ella said, shovelling toast into her mouth at top speed. I looked over at Jade to see her staring at Ella, her eyes widened in shock. That was when it clicked.

"Oh my god," I said, looking at Ella with my mouth wide open, "Please tell me that you're joking." Ella didn't say anything. "Oh shit, you're not are you?"

Ella shook her head slowly.

"I am going to fucking kill Albus." I exclaimed, bringing my fist down on the table with a thump.

"Violence is never the answer, Rosie." Rio said as her owl dropped a letter in front of her.

"It is in the case where my cousin decides to deflower my best friend." I seethed.

"Deflower? Really Rose? Is that the term that you want to use? I'd say 'my cousin decides to fu-"

"Okay, that's enough." Mae said, putting a hand over Jades mouth as she prepared to deliver what was probably one of her witty, snarky, I-just-want-to-kill-her-when-she-says-them comments.

"Did he force you into it? Because if he did then he is so going to get it from me-" I said.

"Rose-"

"Seriously Ella, because if you didn't want to that could be classed as rape."

"Rose, please-"

"Oh my god, I can't believe you had sex with my cousin-"

"Rose, I really don't-"

"I hope you used protection because if you didn't then I will kill both of you."

"Rose, shut the hell up!" Ell exclaimed, "you want me to recount every grisly detail to you then fine I will!"

"No, please don't. I don't need that mental image, thanks anyway though."

"In answer to your questions, no he didn't force me into it I wanted to and of course we used protection you bloody twat! What do you think I am, a prostitute?"

"Good." I said, taking a sip of my pumpkin juice. "Still killing Albus though… what's up Rio?" I said, changing the subject as I noticed Rio staring at the letter that she'd just received with her mouth wide open.

"I-I got in." Rio said, still evidently in shock, "I passed the healer test and they've said that they're happy to take me on for an apprenticeship once I finish school!"

"Oh my gosh, Rio that's amazing!" Ella said, looking relieved to have the spotlight taken off her. "See, I told you that you'd pass!"

"I can't believe this, I was so sure that I mucked up the whole test and I actually _got in_!"

"Great job Ree." I smiled, clapping her on the back. "If anyone deserves this, it's you."

While everyone was busy congratulating Rio only two things were running through my mind. One was how best to kill Albus, the other was the fact that all of my friends knew what they were doing after Hogwarts. I knew what I wanted to do, but wanting to do something and putting in into practise were two different things. All of them had apprenticeships somewhere and I was yet to apply to get a job anywhere. If I didn't get my act together soon then I would most certainly end up jobless and everyone knows that being jobless gets you absolutely nowhere.


	22. Dance With Somebody

It was safe to say that on the morning of the end of year dance, I didn't wake up by myself. Unfortunately, all four of my friends were looking forward to it a lot more than I was and a stray pillow found itself in my face as all of them jumped around like three year olds squealing their heads off in excitement.

"Sleeping here." I muttered angrily, throwing the pillow back across the room with such force that it knocked Rio onto the nearest bed.

"Lighten up, Rosie. Today is going to be amazing!" Ella said excitedly attempting to pull the covers away from me.

"There is something wrong with you," I grumbled, "This dance is just an excuse for people to drink bear and rub up against each other in hopes of distracting themselves from their meaningless consumer driven lives."

"Not if we're taken, which everyone in the year is." Jade said,

"Face it, Rosie, you just don't like dancing." Mae said as she held her dress up against her and twirled around.

"Really?" I said sarcastically, "Did you figure that out all by yourself?"

"Yeah." Mae grinned, "Now just get up and at least pretend to be excited please?"

"Ugh." I groaned, rolling over onto my back. "You're all going to be the death of me, I swear."

"That's the spirit Rosie." Rio said, stroking the silky blue fabric of her dress that hung at the end of her bed ready for tonight. "I can't wait to see how Oliver looks, he told me that I'd love it."

"Well I know that Scorpius is wearing a polka dot tie to go with Rosie's polka dot dress." Teased Ella

"Hey, you're just jealous that you can't pull off a polka dot dress." I said, snapping my fingers at her as my eyes fell on the dress at the foot of my bed. It was probably the dress that would get the most ridicule, but it was the only one that I know that I wouldn't have regretted buying.

"True." Ella sighed sarcastically, as she waved her wand over her white school blouse, ironing out the creases in it.

"What's the time?" I asked curiously, after glancing down at my broken watch to find that it was still stuck on twelve thirty. It had been since we went camping and I was just wearing it to have something to fiddle with in class.

"Quarter to eight, give or take." Mae shrugged, gathering her things together and making her way to the bathroom.

"Oh shit." I said.

"What?" Ella asked, slightly bemused.

"It's Muggle Studies first and I haven't finished the homework."

There was complete silence as I looked around the room, desperate for somebody to say 'oh, you can copy mine'. I had no such luck. Instead, all four of them burst out laughing. They bloody laughed at me.

"Quick," Ella gasped, "Somebody write this down, Rosie hasn't done her homework."

"May 16th 2025 Rose Weasley forgot to do her muggle studies homework." Jade said, pretending to write it down while laughing her head off.

"You're horrible." I snapped, rifling through my bag and pulling out the paper that I had started in the previous class and slapped it angrily down on my desk as they continued to laugh at me. How could I have forgotten that? I wasn't even with Scorpius last night.

"There's only a week left until we finish school for good, you know." I said, "I don't want to go out looking like a slacker."

"Rose…" Ella said, shaking her head and sitting down on the desk next to my paper as I dipped my quill in the ink. "Has anyone other than you handed in the homework that was set this week?"

"I-"

"Has anyone other than you asked the teachers for homework when none was given?"

"No, but-"

"Has anyone other than you even picked up a quill in class?"

"What point are you trying to prove? That I'm a nerd?"

"Well, that and the fact that the teachers are trying to give us a break… We've been working our arses off all year and in the last two weeks they're giving us a well-deserved break from school work. Don't you get it Rosie? We're being _encouraged_ to slack off." Ella said.

"Really?" I asked, my brow creasing in confusion.

"Jesus Christ you're completely blind to anything else that isn't work aren't you?" Jade said, shaking her head at me.

"And you're completely blind to anything that isn't Mae." I retorted. Both Jade and Mae blushed furiously while Ella and Rio laughed.

"Nice one, Rosie." Rio said, slapping me a high-five.

"Hey, we're all guilty of it." I said, putting my hands up in surrender. "I'm just blinded than more important things than you guys are."

"What, Work and Scorpius?" Mae asked as Rio, Jade and Ella roared with laughter.

"Oh shut up, it's too early for this." I said, packing my quill, ink and paper away into my bag and started to gather up my uniform which was situated at different points around –and on - my bed.

I was a relatively tidy person most of the time, but I think with all the stress of leaving school and such has really made me disorganised and horribly confused as to what is going on.

"Come on then," Mae said, emerging from the bathroom fully dressed and dragging a brush through her hair, "I'm starving and bacon and eggs are sounding really good right now.

"In a second," I said, climbing onto my bed and pulling the hangings around me while Ella and Rio made a mad dash for the bathroom. In a way I was glad that Rio beat her to it. I still felt edgy when Ella went into the bathroom by herself, even though we'd talked it through and Ella had promised to come to us if she felt upset or like she didn't have a place. It _is_ just me being paranoid, but can you blame me?

I slipped into my uniform, and stepped off my bed to do my hair in the full length mirror that resided beside it.

"Shit my skirt is short." I said, only just noticing this. I tugged anxiously at the grey pleated material, "There's no hem left to take down and we were never taught extending charms… what am I going to do?! I can't go around looking like this."

"Calm down, Rosie. We're seventh years about to graduate, naturally our skirts and tops will be a little bit small… see it as a mark of how much you've grown since the last time you had your robes fitted." Mae said, waving her wand over her own hair so that it twisted itself up into an elegant bun. I separated my hair into three strands and started to twist them into a braid. I guess Mae was right, everyone would be in the same boat with their uniforms. I guess the good thing was that Lily and Molly were both incredibly skinny - Like seriously skinny, you hug one of them and you get a paper cut they are that skinny. – Which meant that they'd fit into my old uniform with no problems at all.

"Alright," I said, tying off my braid and grabbing my bag, "shall we go?"

"I'm ready." Jade shrugged.

"Me too," said Rio emerging from the bathroom, "Ella?"

"One second, I'm missing a button." Ella called from within her hangings. We heard her mutter a spell and seconds later she hopped out, doing up her tie.

"What's wrong with missing a button?" I asked, "I'm wearing an incredibly short skirt, surely nobody is going to notice if you're missing a button."

"It was the top button, I can't wear my tie without the top button." Ella snapped as we started to walk out of the door.

"Can we honestly stop arguing about our uniforms? We won't have to wear them in a few weeks' time anyway." Mae said exasperatedly.

"I'm not arguing, I'm-" I tried but Jade cut me off.

"Face it Rose, you're just pissed off that we woke you up." She laughed. I rolled my eyes and pushed past her. Yes, being rudely awoken that morning might've had something to do with the fact that I was crabby for no reason, that and the looming prospect of the end of year dance. It's going to be a long day.

* * *

My heart started pounding at a hundred miles an hour when I saw a ministry tawny owl flying towards me at breakfast. I could clearly see the big black 'M' on the front and knew immediately that it was for me. I was the only one that was applying for jobs at this time. Everyone had either already done it and received a reply, or was leaving it until they graduated.

This was the fourth of the replies that I'd received from the ministry regarding different jobs that I could take up in their departments. So far I'd been turned down from The Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, The Committee for Experimental Charms and The Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

The owl dropped the letter in front of me and flew off without so much as a hello. Nervously I grabbed it and ripped it open.

_Dear Miss Weasley,_

_Thank you for your interest in joining the Goblin Liaison office. We are sorry to inform you, however, that we are not looking for any new members of staff any time soon._

_Hoping you are well,_

_Teresa Creswell._

I hadn't wanted to join Goblin Liaison anyway but despite that fact I still felt my heart sink a little at the rejection letter.

"Did they reject you as well?" Ella asked me sympathetically having seen me open the very official looking letter.

"Yep," I said, screwing the paper up and shoving it into my bag, "I've still got four more letters to come though, so I'm just holding out for them."

"Looks like you won't have to wait long… did anyone else write to the ministry other than you do you know?" Jade asked, pointing up at the ceiling as yet another owl flew straight at me. Like its colleague, the ministry owl dropped the letter and promptly flew off.

"Who's this one from?" Mae asked as I flipped the letter over to see the sender's address.

"The auror office." I said, my heart beat picking up its pace again. I knew that there was no way that I would get into the Auror office. I could perform spells better than anyone else my age and I was the best in the year in Defence Against The Dark Arts. I had the grades to get in, but there was also the fact that I was scared shitless when it came to fighting anyone.

"Go on, open it." Ella urged. I slid my finger under the flap and opened the envelope and slipped the piece of parchment inside out and read it through.

_Dear Miss Weasley,_

_We are delighted to inform you that after careful deliberation we are willing to offer you a place in the Auror training Academy for Advanced Witches and Wizards. You will do a year of training and then a year of practical work. After that you will return to the academy and do another year to pass your final test._

_Term starts on September 1_ _st_ _2025._

_If you wish to accept this opportunity then please send us a return letter by no later than June 3_ _rd_ _2025 as we have a lot of applicants._

_Sincerely, Harry Potter Head of the Auror Office._

"I got in…" I said, looking down at the letter, my mouth dropping open in shock.

"Well that's not fair." Jade said, reading through the letter quickly as she had snatched it out of my hands moments previously when I had made my announcement, "That's your uncle who's the head of it all."

"Yeah, but he doesn't actually send out the letters, his secretary does that and he just goes through the stack and signs them. He was complaining about it last year." I said.

"I still think it's biased." Jade said, folding her arms.

"Jade you already have a job lined up for you after school, why are you jealous of me?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"I'm not jealous… I'm just a little sceptical about the fact that your uncle is the head of the Auror office." Jade defended.

"I thought you wanted to be a teacher here?" Ella interjected quickly as I opened my mouth to retort to Jade.

"I do… but once I'm married and have children. I need a job that will get me started and financially stable and then I'll come back here to teach." I said, snatching my letter of acceptance back out of Jade's hand.

"Well, great job on getting accepted Rosie." Mae smiled from next to Jade.

"Thanks." I said gratefully, happy that someone was actually impressed that I'd managed to get into the Auror academy, despite the fact that my uncle was the head.

"Yeah, congratulations Rose," Rio said, "you can now join the working gang."

I laughed, "Thanks Ree, now all I have to do is pass and-"

My voice was cut off by the sound of the bell ringing, signalling the start of the day's classes.

* * *

"Now, children, I am delighted to announce that the Muggle Studies faculty will be hosting the end of year dance this year, so you will all get the full muggle experience out of this year." Professor Simona said happily, clapping her hands together. The class sat in front of her, nowhere near dumbstruck at all.

"Professor, haven't we had enough muggle things for one year?" Corey Finnigan whined, "I'm thoroughly muggled out."

"I'm going to have to agree with him there, Professor." Adeola said, "The camping trip was such a fiasco that I don't really want to have anything to do with muggles again."

"Hey, it wasn't that bad." Albus said, "It wasn't like someone set fire to a tent or something, we just had a little ill-timed shagging."

"That's quite enough, Mr. Potter, thank you." Professor Simona said, raising her arms and the class fell silent again. "The dance has been organised and we will not be changing it, however I figured that most of you would prefer a wizarding dance and decided that I would do you all a favour and hire some of your favourite bands to play; The Weird Sisters, Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls to name few."

"You got The Weird Sisters to come and sing at our dance?" Johanna exclaimed.

"I did." Professor Simona said proudly. "The Truth is, the only difference between muggle dances and wizarding dances is the music, the clothing and the fact that they are muggles and we are not."

There was a collective sigh of relief from around the classroom as these words issued from Professor Simona's mouth.

"It's good to see your enthusiasm." Professor Simona said sarcastically earning a few half-hearted giggles from the rest of the class. "Alright," Professor Simona said, clapping her hands together, "Seeing as it's your second last week of school, and your exams are over, I'll let you off doing any work."

Another sigh of relief.

"But, anything we do in class has to have some sort of educational component, so I'm going to give you a script and you're going to perform it for us at the end of the lesson. You'll be in your pairs, of course and I will now hand out your scenes from Shakespeare's play _The Taming of the Shrew_."

 _Finally_ I thought, we were finally getting to study a play by Shakespeare after a whole year of anticipation.

"Have you ever heard of _The Taming of the Shrew_ before, Rose?" Scorpius asked as Professor Simona handed out the bits of paper with our lines on them.

"I have, in fact. I read the whole plot summary last year." I said

"Of course you did." Scorpius said, throwing his arms up in the air exasperatedly.

"So, what's it about?" Scorpius said, turning his piece of paper every which way to try and see if he could read the Shakespearian language on there.

"It's about a girl who is pretty much a heinous bitch and doesn't want to get married while her sister is desperate to get married, but their father won't let the younger one, Bianca get married unless the older one, Katharina gets married first."

"That's stupid." Scorpius said.

"Yes, well it makes for a good storyline." I said.

"Well, I guess you're going to be Katharina and I'm going to be Petruchio?" Scorpius said, looking at his piece of paper.

"Well unless you want to play a girl I guess that they are our allocated parts."

"Rose I have no idea what any of this means." Scorpius said, his eyes scanning down the page.

"It's simple really." I said, "Thou, thy and thee are pretty much, you and-"

"What the hell is a coxcomb?" Scorpius laughed, completely interrupting my explanation.

Startled, I looked down the page for that word and the context.

"I think it means something like a fool or a fool's hat." I explained, trying so hard not to laugh at the other lines that followed it.

"Oh god this is so dirty." Scorpius laughed, hitting his head on the table as he read through the script.

"Funny, Captain Innuendo." I said, attempting to be mature about the whole situation.

"Rose, that's not an innuendo, that is spelt out for us… read it out with me from coxcomb..."

I rolled my eyes at him but said Katharina's line. "What is your crest – a coxcomb?"

"A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen." Scorpius said, giggling slightly.

"No cock of mine; you crow – I'm sorry, I can't say that." I said, collapsing into peals of laughter.

"Now you see this dilemma?" Scorpius said, "This Shakespeare bloke had a really dirty mind."

"The funny part about that was that it wasn't supposed to be dirty… He was referring to a male rooster." I gasped through laughter.

"A male rooster is called a cock?" Scorpius laughed.

"Seriously? You're asking me this at seventeen years old? Go and re-take third year Care of Magical Creatures."

Scorpius opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Professor Simona.

"How is everyone doing?" she asked.

"There's no way we're going to learn this in one lesson, Professor." Albus said, "It's not even proper English."

"Alright then, Mr Potter would you and Miss Longbottom like to come out the front _with your scripts_ and read out the scene that I have given you."

"No thanks, I'm good Professor." Albus said.

"Too late, you're first." She said, smiling at them and gesturing behind her at the space in front of the teacher's desk. Albus and Ella nervously made their way out to the front of the room and began to read out their piece.

It wasn't nearly as entertaining as ours was and it was for that reason that I was half excited, half mortified at the fact that ours had pretty clear sexual references in it and we'd have to read it out.

"Alright, Miss Weasley and Mr Malfoy, you two next."

Oh of course this happens, just my bloody luck.

Scorpius gave me an encouraging smile as we took our positions out the front of the room.

"Off you go." Professor Simona said, smiling at the both of us. Scorpius took a deep breath and looked down at the script for the first line.

"Who knows not where a wasp does keep his sting? In his tail" Scorpius said, trying to sound exceptionally heroic but really just looking like he had a wasp sting himself.

"In his tongue."

"Who's tongue?"

"Yours, if you talk of such tales, and so farewell."

"What, with my tongue in your tail - Nay come again good Kate I am a gentleman." Before Scorpius said that line he looked like he was about to pee himself laughing, and after he said the line I think he really did pee himself laughing as the class burst out laughing along with him.

"Alright, I think that's quite enough of that." Professor Simona said, fighting back laughter herself.

"You should see the rest of it." Scorpius wheezed in laughter which just set the whole class off again at the prospect of it.

This was definitely one of the best muggle studies lessons ever and definitely one that would be remembered.

* * *

"Does my hair look alright?" Rio asked me anxiously for the hundredth time.

"Yes, bloody hell. We have all told you a million times that your hair looks absolutely fine." I said, holding my hair aside as Jade zipped up my dress at the back.

"I'm just so nervous; I want everything to be perfect." Rio said, standing in front of the mirror and smoothing her dress out for the hundredth time.

"Don't we all?" Ella asked as she waved her wand over her hair, making it lengthen three centimetres. "Do you think It looks better longer or shorter?"

"Longer, definitely." Mae said as she walked out of the bathroom in her deep purple gown. "What do you think?"

"You look absolutely amazing!" Rio exclaimed, jumping up from her position and hurrying across the room to fawn over Mae.

"You're sure it starts at seven?" Ella said anxiously, looking at her watch.

"Of course I'm sure," I muttered, "I'm always sure. I'm the queen of being sure… no that's a rubbish title, forget that title."

"Ha! So you are excited." Rio said.

"Okay, maybe a little bit…" I said, holding my fingers about an inch apart, "How could you tell?"

"You started babbling and you always babble when you're excited, scared or worried."

"Well I'm all three at the moment." I said, standing in front of the mirror and surveying myself. "There's something missing…" I said, furrowing my brow in deep thought. "Aha." I said, pulling out my wand and muttering a spell so that a pair of elbow length white gloves appeared on my arms. "Perfect."

"You look really vintage, Rose." Rio complimented, "It suits you."

"Thanks." I smiled, shaking my hair out of its ponytail and letting it flow around my face, "I think I can leave the hair." I shrugged.

"It's a quarter to seven!" Ella squealed, "We'd better get going or we'll miss the start of it."

"We won't." I said, "It's not that hard to run in a dress."

"Well, I think you've forgotten that we're all wearing heels as well." Ella said, slipping into hers which made her grow about three inches. I shuddered, remembering the last time that I had worn heels at Victoire's wedding. That had definitely not been a fun experience.

"Never wearing heels again," I said, slipping into my ballet flats. "Shall we go then?"

* * *

"Ready?" Scorpius grinned, taking my hand and leading me down the marble staircase. I nodded as the crowd parted for us. Traditionally the head boy and girl started the dance. That would be Scorpius and I, and Albus and Ella. Professor McGonagall started organising students to go into the hall. I saw Jade and Mae walk into the hall along with Rio and Oliver, chatting away merrily like an old married couple. It was great to see that Oliver was alright with Jade and Mae as well.

"Not many girls would have the courage to do that" Scorpius said, squeezing my arm. "Jade and Mae are very brave"

"I know" I said, smiling at Jade's back. "I think being the only out of the closet girls in the school kind of gets to them, Jade just wants to show all the homophobes that she, and I quote "can dance at graduation with whoever the fuck I want""

Scorpius laughed softly. "That's the Jade that we know."

"I don't know how it's possible not to love her in one way or another. She's just the most likable person in the world." I said.

"She's grown on me as well." Scorpius said, "I really do like your friends, believe it or not Rosie."

"I'd love to be able to say that I like the Slytherins, but I just can't." I said as the last of the students filed into the hall.

"I don't say I blame you." Scorpius said.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley are you and Miss. Longbottom and Mr Malfoy ready?" Professor McGonagall asked as we nodded. "Good luck then." she hurried back into the hall to take her place at the megaphone.

"I'm a little nervous now." I muttered to Scorpius as we stood outside the doors.

"Don't be," Scorpius said, squeezing my hand comfortingly. I looked up at him and found his grey eyes for comfort. "You look beautiful, did I mention that already?"

"About four times." I said, swallowing a lump in my throat as I heard the band start to strike up a tune from inside and the doors started to open slowly. I hitched a smile onto my face and linked my arm in Scorpius' as we walked into the hall full of seventh years and took our place on the dance floor.

The band was playing a fast paced tune that we weren't sure how to dance to, so we just moved in rhythm with the beat and made it look like we were dancing with each other and knew what we were doing. Surprisingly enough, it worked and within a few minutes we were camouflaged in with the rest of the seventh years as they all danced.

"You suck at dancing." I yelled over the music as Scorpius trod on my foot for the seventh time in ten minutes.

"I could say the same to you." He said as I stumbled again.

"We make quite a pair, don't we?" I smiled. Scorpius stopped for a second.

"I love you so much." He said, leaning down and kissing me on the lips. I kissed him back eagerly, relishing in every moment of the kiss.

"I love you too." I grinned as we pulled away from each other and the band rapped up their first song. Scorpius stroked my cheek and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear just as the band struck a heavy metal rock tune and we were almost bowled over as everyone converged at the front of the stage in a mosh pit, screaming and pumping their fists in the air.

"Let's go!" Scorpius said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards it.

This was definitely going to be a night to remember.


	23. So Long, Farewell

Our last day at school came far too quickly for my liking.

It was the end of a lot of things when I woke up on the 20th of May 2025. Predominantly it was the end of my school career. It was also the end of my childhood, the end of me being head girl, the end of my seventh year, the end of my life at Hogwarts.

I rolled over in bed much later than I normally would have if it were a school day, or any other day really. I didn't care though, I was anxious for today to be over so that I could experience life and work outside Hogwarts as an adult.

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I looked over at Ella's bed to find her lying with her eyes open, gazing out of the window at the sunny sky outside.

"Hey," I said and her eyes immediately snapped back to me.

"Morning," she said with a smile.

"Last day," I grinned. She gave a small smile in return.

"Yeah, the last day."

And before I knew it she had started crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, sitting up in bed.

"I just can't believe that we'll never sleep in these beds again, we'll never walk the corridors, we'll never wear the uniform, we'll never eat in the great hall, we'll never lounge around doing nothing in the grounds, we'll never have emotional, meaningful talks in this room again. We'll never do any of those things again after today!" Ella exclaimed, trying to reign in her tears.

This triggered something in the back of my mind; the part of my mind that likes to give me reality checks now and again and Ella's words really hit home. It was true, this was our last day at Hogwarts as a student, and even if I did return as a member of staff once I'd settled down and had a family, it wouldn't be the same.

"You want to know what I think we should do?" I said with a mischievous grin on my face.

"What?" Ella said, wiping her eyes on her doona.

"I think we should make the most of it while it lasts." I said, giving her a sly wink and nodding at the three other sleeping girls that were sprawled in their beds. A grin identical to mine formed on Ella's face.

"I'll take Rio, you get Mae and we'll tackle Jade together?" She said, throwing back her covers and jumping eagerly out of bed.

"That sounds like a deal." I said, mimicking her and creeping across the room to the foot of Mae's bed and grabbing the bottom of her covers at the corners.

"One." Ella said from opposite me where she stood in the same position at the end of Rio's bed.

"Two." I said

"Three." We said in unison and whipped the covers off both Mae and Rio.

The room immediately filled with groans as the two other girls woke up at the sudden coldness after their blankets were ripped from them.

"You suck." Mae muttered, "I was having such a good dream."

"Aw did it have Jade in it?" I teased as Mae sat up and pushed her messy hair out of her face.

She blushed furiously, "Yes, as a matter of fact, it did."

"Right, I don't need to know any more." I said, rolling my eyes. "Come on, let's tackle the human sleeping potion."

Waking Jade up was different to waking up Mae and Rio. While they woke up as soon as you took away the covers, Jade didn't. Trust me, we've tried many times. So we had resorted to throwing ourselves on top of her until she woke up, which was not only a very uncomfortable experience, but also a very long one, as she normally didn't wake up until someone slapped her.

"You first, Rose." Ella said, graciously indicating me to go first.

"Nuh uh, no way, I was first last time and you three almost suffocated me." I protested, stepping back from Jade's bed.

"Fine, Mae, I'm sure Jade would love waking up with you on top of her, you go first." Ella said, turning to Mae. Mae nodded and walked straight over to Jade's bed.

"I love how she doesn't even protest." I muttered to Ella.

"Oi, watch it." Mae warned. I simply ginned at her. "Change of plans." Mae said, grabbing Jade's blanket and throwing it onto the ground, "Today we roll her out of bed and see how she likes it."

"No, bad idea." I said, waving my hands back and forth quickly, "Tried that once and ended up with flapping bogies around my head, if you're going to do that, take her wand first, because she will curse everything in sight."

"She'd never curse me." Mae said, picking up Mae's wand and tossing it to Rio, "but all the same, it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Good girl," I said as Mae picked up her own wand from her bedside table and pointed it at Jade, flicking it in an upwards motion so that Jade was wrenched off the bed and hung in the air by one ankle.

She definitely woke up after that.

She flailed around screaming bloody murder, trying to determine which way was up as she revolved slowly around in the air.

"What no stacks on Jade this year?" she said once she had sorted out the fact that she was upside down.

"Nah, we figured that we'd try the, force Jade out of bed tactic." Mae said.

"Good one." Jade said, folding her arms across her chest, "Now can you let me down?"

"Only if you promise not to go back to sleep… It's nearly ten, we'll have to go to the kitchens to get food."

"What are we going to do for the whole day?" Jade asked as Mae, unbeknownst to Jade, moved her ever so slowly away from the bed.

"It's our last day at school." I said, shrugging, "Let's enjoy it while it lasts."

And with that, Mae flicked her wand and Jade fell on the floor in a heap.

"You will so pay for that later." Jade exclaimed, jumping up off the ground and rubbing her head, which she had unfortunately landed on when Mae let her down.

"Just a little insurance to make sure you didn't go back to sleep." Mae said, smiling sweetly.

I shook my head at them both as they chased each other around the classroom. It was so hard to believe that when I had first met Jade she had been the most shy person on earth…

* * *

**September 1** **st** **2017**

" _I can't believe we're finally going! Can you?" Ella asked me as we walked down the corridor on the Hogwarts express hand in hand having just finished waving goodbye to our families from the windows of the mid carriage in the train where there were no compartments._

" _It seems like forever since James went, I've been jealous ever since." I said, keeping a hold of her hands as older students jostled us on the way to their compartments._

" _I've had to watch Alice_ and _Abi go, how do you think I feel?" Ella said indignantly as we were plastered against the wall as a burly seventh year pushed past us._

" _Come on, we'd better find a compartment or we'll get trampled out here." I said, standing on tiptoe to see whether the compartment we were standing outside was empty. It was full of what looked like Slytherin fourth years that were already in their uniforms._

_We continued on down the corridor, coming across James and Abi, (my cousin and Ella's older sister) who were sharing a compartment with Albus._

" _Hey, Rosie come and sit with us." He said eagerly as soon as he saw me._

" _Go away Al, you twat. Ella and I want to sit alone." I snapped._

" _Aw, is Rosie in love with Ella?" James teased making kissing noises at me._

" _You're one to talk! Don't think I didn't see you kiss Abi behind the Burrow at Uncle Harry's birthday. If anything_ you _should be the ones wanting alone time." I shrieked, grabbing Ella's hand and storming off down the train, hoping that my dolt of a cousin wouldn't follow at all._

" _Let's go and sit in there." I whispered a few minutes later when we had reached the end of the train._

" _But there's someone in there." Ella hissed back._

" _So… we'll become friends with her. It can't just be you and me forever." I said, putting my hand on the handle to pull the door open._

_Ella sighed, "I guess you're right." She said. I smiled at her and pulled open the door to reveal a darker skinned girl with jet black hair fiddling with a loose sleeve on her sweater._

" _Hi," I said as Ella and I walked in. The girl looked up, slightly shocked at the fact that two complete strangers were talking to her. "I'm Rose, and this is Ella, what's your name?"_

_The girl smiled slightly at us and uttered one word. "Jade."_

" _That's a very pretty name. I really like the stone jade, I have a jade pendant at home." I said._

_Jade didn't look at all fussed by the fact that I was fawning over her name, however she didn't look too happy about it either. It was hard to tell what she was thinking as she just went back to looking out of the window._

" _Can we sit here?" I asked, "Only everywhere else is full and I really don't want to sit with my cousins and listen to the ten greatest pranks pulled by James."_

_Jade nodded slightly._

_I took this as a good sign and sat down on the seat opposite her._

" _So Jade, where are you from?"_

_Jade didn't reply._

" _Ella and I are from Chiswick. We live down the road from each other." I tried. Jade still didn't answer._

" _Not a big talker, huh?" Ella asked kindly._

" _Wales." Jade said softly._

" _Sorry?" I said, surprised to hear her reply._

" _I'm from Wales, but I moved to Manchester when I was eight." Jade said, clearing her throat and speaking a bit louder._

" _I like your accent." Ella said._

" _Really?" Jade said softly. "I hate it. I'm trying to get rid of it."_

" _Why? It's beautiful." Ella asked._

_Jade just turned and looked back out of the window. Ella and I shot each other a glance. This girl was obviously just really shy._

" _Jade," I tried again, "Why don't you like your accent?"_

" _I hate Manchester." Jade said softly into her hand, "Everything has been a disaster since we moved there."_

" _Why?" Ella asked curiously._

" _My parents enrolled me in a muggle school and they all picked on my accent. That's why I don't like my accent. I tried talking in a cockney accent but the girls at school said that I sounded like a Welsh person who was choking. But I'm practising, I really am and I can almost do a proper English accent."_

" _Why did they tease you? I think Welsh is a beautiful accent." Ella smiled._

" _Some kids can be cruel, don't let it get to you." I said and Jade cracked an even bigger smile._

" _So," I said, grinning at her, "Let's start again. I'm Rose and this is Ella."_

" _I'm Jade. It's a pleasure to meet you."_

* * *

"Rosie, what are you thinking about?" Ella asked as we sat in the kitchens eating our very late breakfast.

"Nothing," I said, smiling with fondness at the memory, "Just thinking about first year."

"Ah first year, I miss being eleven." Jade said.

"Me too." Mae agreed.

"I tell you what though, the only thing I don't miss about being eleven is the fact that I had that ridiculous Welsh accent, do you remember?" she asked, pointing at all of us in turn.

We all nodded.

"And I want to thank you all for spending too much time around me and rubbing off on me. I like this accent so much better."

Rio let out a loud laugh, "You sound like you're a shape shifter in a new body."

"How do you know I'm not?" Jade said with a wink.

"Because a shape shifter would never wink like that," Rio said, "Definitely Jade."

Jade poked her tongue out at Rio and tried to steal a piece of her toast.

And to think that they once hated each other.

* * *

" _I hate that girl! What's her name again, Riley?" Jade exclaimed as we walked down to breakfast on our first morning._

" _Rio." Ella corrected._

" _Whatever. I mean who does she think she is to just start picking on me like that. I was only asking what part of England she was from and she turned around and snapped at me." Jade fumed._

" _Maybe she just had a bad day yesterday?" I said, putting the question out there. "Don't let her get to you."_

" _She's such a stuck up snob. I wish I wasn't in the same dorm as her." Jade said exasperatedly._

" _What about that other girl, Mae?" Ella asked as we entered the Great Hall._

" _She seems alright." I shrugged._

" _She hangs out with Rio, so I don't like her." Jade said, crossing her arms._

" _Jade, you shouldn't judge a person before you get to know them. You of all people should know that." I said as we sat down opposite each other and began to help ourselves to toast and scrambled eggs._

" _I know, but I really don't like that Rio girl." Jade said, shaking her head._

" _Just give her a chance." Ella said, "You may find that you actually like her."_

" _Trust me, I won't." Jade said, crossing her arms once again._

* * *

" _Watch out for that wooden door, Weasley, it might catch fire."_

 _My head snapped around to see that absolute git Scorpius Malfoy walking behind me._ Great, that's all I need _. I muttered to myself. I kept my head down and continued walking along the corridor._

" _What's the matter Weasley? Keeping your head down so you don't set anyone alight."_

" _Ignore him." Ella muttered in my ear as I went to turn around, "He's just attention seeking."_

" _Seriously, I will punch him if he says anything more about my hair." I said angrily. I had only been at Hogwarts a month and Scorpius Malfoy had been tormenting me left right and centre every day since then._

" _That's right Weasley, go and cry your eyes out. Maybe it'll put out the bush fire."_

" _Hey!" A voice said from behind Scorpius and his gang of Slytherin friends. Everyone turned around, shocked to see little Rio Blanche standing in the middle of the corridor with her wand drawn and pointing at Scorpius' head. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size, Malfoy?"_

" _Good luck finding anyone your size, Blanche." Scorpius laughed_

" _That is it Malfoy, you've crossed the line." Rio yelled, stamping her foot._

" _Oooh, I'm scared. What are you going to do, shoot sparks at me?" Scorpius mocked._

" _No," Rio said, a mischievous grin coming across her face, "I'm going to scream." She said. Suddenly the air was filled with Rio's screams and boy for a tiny person could she scream loudly._

" _Miss Blanche, whatever is the matter?" said a worried Professor Halmarick as she hurried down the corridor._

" _It's Malfoy, Professor. He hit me with a spell and it burned." Rio sobbed._

_All eyes shot to Malfoy, who did indeed have his wand out, but that had just been to defend himself in case Rio actually did try and hex him._

" _Mister Malfoy, you will come with me to Headmistress McGonagall immediately." Professor Halmarick said._

" _But Professor, I didn't do anything!" Scorpius protested._

" _No but's Mister Malfoy, come now." She said, turning around sharply and walking back up the corridor. Scorpius had no choice but to follow her._

_Rio picked up her things and started to walk up towards Gryffindor tower._

" _Hey," Jade called, "Why don't you come and eat dinner with us?" Rio turned around, evidently surprised._

" _I'd like that." Rio smiled, adjusting her bag on her shoulder._

" _You know," Jade said, "You're not as vile as I thought you were."_

_Rio just smiled._

* * *

"What now?" Jade asked once we had finished Breakfast in the kitchens.

"I don't know. What's everyone else doing?" Ella asked.

"Probably enjoying their last day, why don't we go out into the grounds and enjoy it t- Ow! what the-?" I exclaimed as something hit me in the back of the head.

"Peeves! What the hell are you doing?" Jade roared as she caught sight of the poltergeist hovering around the top of the marble staircase throwing ink pellets at passing students.

"Peeves is having fun!" Peeves said, sitting on the top of the railing and sliding down it. "Wheeeeee!"

"I swear I will fucking kill that poltergeist one day." Jade muttered as Peeves swooped off.

"It's alright for you, your hair's black. Now I've got to go and take a shower!" I exclaimed, dabbing at the black spot on the back of my head.

"Don't be so dramatic Rose." Jade sighed, drawing her wand and removing the stain from my hair.

"Well, It's hard to do charms on yourself, isn't it." I said, defending myself.

"Sure, whatever, keep telling yourself that Rosie." Jade said, rolling her eyes. "Shall we go out into the grounds and enjoy them while we still can?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Rio shrugged. Ella, Mae and I all nodded our agreement and we proceeded towards the oak front doors that lead out into the grounds.

They were relatively empty, as the rest of the students were still in classes, but there were a few seventh years sitting in groups enjoying their last day at Hogwarts.

The five of us made our way over to the lake and the beach tree where Scorpius and I came most nights after dinner. It was a humid day which made the shade of the beach tree perfect and cooling.

"I can't believe that we're graduating today." I said as I stretched out underneath the branches of the tree. The sunlight seeping through the leaves and the smell of the lake on the soft breeze made it feel like some sort of Utopia.

"Neither." Ella said, lying down beside me, "It seems like yesterday that we were boarding the train in our first year."

"I still remember the exact moment that you two walked into the carriage that I was sitting in." Jade said, "Rose was confident and chirpy and Ella was shy and kind. Now look at them, both heinous bitches."

"Oi! Watch it Miss Welsh Accent." I said, aiming a kick at her.

"Remember when you pushed Scorpius off the docks in third year?" Mae reminisced as her gaze fluttered over the old docks that hadn't been used in years.

Back when we were thirteen, most of the year used to sneak down there and have parties in the dead of night which was when I had decided to push Scorpius in in hopes that he would drown. I had no such luck, however as he could swim.

"Good times." I said, pretending to wipe a tear of laughter away from my eye.

"Did I hear Scorpius?" I heard no other voice but Scorpius' say from behind me.

"Hey babe," I said, twisting around onto my elbows to see him.

"Hi." Scorpius smiled, "What are you doing down here?"

"Enjoying our last day of School and the sunshine." Rio said, "We're also remembering the time that Rose pushed you into the lake."

Scorpius let out a loud laugh, "I knew that you were behind me Rose, I just wanted to see what you did."

"You did not!" I exclaimed, "You so didn't! I took you completely by surprise."

"I'm a good actor Rosie." Scorpius said before turning back to my friends. "So, can I join you?"

"Of course you can, we're just discussing the most hilarious moments in the last seven years." Rio said.

"Oh, I've got one! Rose and I did it just after we got back from the Christmas Holidays." Scorpius said eagerly, glancing slightly at me. "We were in the prefects bathrooms and then we thought "Let's scare the crap out of the next person who comes in. So Rose hides in the bathtub and I hide in the shower… forty-five minutes I sat there, looking like I was pooping until we hear someone come in and Rose jumps out of the bathtub and screams at that fifth year, Iris Nightingale and Iris screams her head off too and then yells "I've actually peed myself!" so then naturally Rose laughs her arse off and just as Iris comes around the corner to the shower cubicles I jumped out and scared the trousers off her… It was great."

Of course, by this time everyone apart from Scorpius and I was in stitches.

"I must say, I do admire your dedication. No way would I be able to sit in a shower cubicle for forty-five minutes." Jade laughed.

"How is it possible that I didn't know about this?" Ella said through giggles.

"I didn't feel like recounting it word for word." I said.

"You two make such a good couple, I'd hate to see how your children turn out." Mae said.

"Hey, let's take it one step at a time alright?" I said, slightly taken aback at the boldness that Mae assumed that we were going to get married and have kids. "Let's graduate first, then we can talk about marriage and kids."

* * *

At nine o'clock on the dot the following day, the graduating seventh years filed into the Great Hall for the final graduation ceremony.

Everyone in the hall was completely silent, including the first years which was a rare bonus although that might've been to do with the fact that some of them were already falling asleep with boredom like almost every year.

I fingered the slip of paper in my pocket which held the farewell speech that Albus and I had to present to the audience just before everyone walked across the stage and threw their wizards hats to the sixth years which symbolised us passing over our leadership to them.

It all passed in a blur.

One minute we were sitting down, the next, Professor McGonagall was making her speech. Something about "seeing many people come through this school and each year being more successful than the rest." I wasn't listening, it was boring me to tears just like every other year, which sounds weird because I'm falling asleep at my own graduation? McGonagall should really rewrite that speech.

I was vaguely aware of Ella crying a little bit beside me and Jade fiddling with her sleeves on the other side of me when Professor McGonagall wrapped up her speech and everyone woke up again to clap.

Professor Gordon, who was running the assembly, took to the microphone again.

"Now, I would like to invite the class of 2025's Head Boy and girl to give a farewell speech to you all. Please welcome Rose Weasley and Albus Potter to the stage."

I rose in my seat and Al rose out of his and together we made our way to the front.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Oh yes." I replied, smoothing out the bit of paper that I had been fiddling with for the last forty minutes.

"Hi, I'm Albus Potter." I said, purposely calling myself the wrong name to draw their attention to us.

"and I'm Rose Weasley." Al said in his best impression of a girls voice. I honestly wanted to push him off the stage.

"And we're your 2024-2025 head boy and girl, but you all know that don't you?" I said.

"Well, It's been a long time coming, but we made it this far." Albus said, rubbing his hands together. "We've finally made it to our seventh year and boy it has been one hell of a ride."

"Others may not understand but that's alright, because we know that there's more to it and eventually every single one of you sitting in this hall today will walk on this stage and throw your hats to your sixth years and only then will you know what it truly means to have 'one hell of a ride'" I said.

"This isn't like anything else we've ever experienced and frankly, I find that amazing." Albus said, "We're all incredibly lucky that we all go to school here, that our year groups are so tight knit and we all know one another's name. At your average muggle high school, this wouldn't happen. These seven years has just been incredibly unique for all forty of us graduating today and I wouldn't reject the invitation to Hogwarts if you payed me a thousand galleons."

"In such a short period, we've made bonds that will last lifetimes." I said, taking back over, "So even though we've reached the end, it's not over yet. We'll still have each other, all the friendships and all the laughs. While we can't take every bit of this amazing place with us when we go on our journeys outside of school, the strongest thing we will take with us isn't a piece of the armoury, although I know for a fact that Oliver Wood has some stashed in his trunk, but the memories. Seven years' worth of memories is a long time and a lot of memories which means that we will take memories of the last seven years of our lives with us wherever we go and we will _always_ remember the brilliant times that we had together."

"Now I know I can't speak for everyone, I can only express my own feelings and views, But I have a pretty good inclination that a lot of you are going down the same road as myself. We're being given a fresh start. A new era is fast approaching. But this time around, we are the storytellers and every one of you in this room will eventually get your time to tell the story. That is, you will all graduate eventually and then you have the power to create your own story, to tell it, to define your own future."

"So we'd like to thank the teachers and our fellow students for making these seven years, the best seven years of our lives. Thank you."

Everyone started clapping wildly, cheering and whooping. Albus and I both stood at the podium, a little taken aback. No seventh year graduation speech had ever got this result.

"Nice job Albus." I said, turning my head to look at him.

"Ditto." He said, "I think they liked it."

"You think?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah," I do.

All of the other seventh years were gathering on the stage now, some with their faces in handkerchiefs, others sniffling and some barely holding back tears as everyone joined hands to bow.

"Students of Hogwarts, I give you the class of 2025!" Professor Gordon said and everyone began clapping and cheering again.

The sixth years rose out of their seats and moved to the front. I could see Louis and his best friend Simon in the crowd, both of them were holding back their tears while clapping along with the rest of the school.

"One!" Albus called and everyone let go of each other's hands.

"Two!" I yelled, and everyone grabbed their wizards hats.

"Three!" The whole year yelled and tossed the pointed black hats towards the sixth years. It was only then that I started to feel slightly emotional. As I watched the grinning sixth years jam the hats on their own heads, I couldn't help feeling that a part of me was missing as if Hogwarts was no longer my home.

The door that lead out to the grounds from the Great Hall opened and the sixth years formed an arch out of it.

I saw Scorpius start the line out of the hall. Albus followed him and then Daniel, then Oliver until everyone was running out of the hall, farewelled by the sixth years that we had just handed our legacies over to.

When I made it into the grounds it was as if a piece of me had been taken away as soon as I walked out those doors; a part of my life, my childhood and my teenage years as well.

We had done it, all of us. We had all made it to our seventh year and graduated, we were all officially adults now. No more school, no more waking up at ridiculous hours of the morning or staying up late to finish homework. We were well and truly independent now.

I found Ella sobbing into Albus' arms while he struggled to hold back tears himself. Jade and Mae were comforting each other and Rio was with Oliver who must've been telling her something funny because she laughed through her tears.

I searched the crowd for the familiar brunette boy that I loved with all of my heart.

"Hey, Rose. That's got to be the best speech I've heard." I heard Scorpius say from somewhere to my left. I located him and flung myself into his arms.

"Thank you." I mumbled into his chest.

"Al didn't write that did he?" Scorpius said, holding me at arms' length and looking into my eyes with a smile.

"No," I sniffed, "I wrote it."

"Knew it. Albus has an emotional range of a teaspoon." Scorpius said, pulling me back to his side. "So, how do you feel? Finally free!"

"I feel sad but happy at the same time." I said, "Sad because I'm leaving this amazing place and happy because I had so many good times here and I'm so grateful for all of that."

"You know what my best time of the year was?" Scorpius asked.

"What?"

"Discovering that Weasley's weren't the scum of the earth."

"Watch it!" I scolded. Scorpius laughed.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye to Hogwarts, forever." Scorpius said.

"It's not forever." I replied, "I'm coming back here one day."

The two of us paused to look up at the many turrets and towers of the castle.

"And you know even if it was forever, I would never let it get me down, because it's my home, and you can never really stop calling your house your home, even long after you've moved out. And that's all I see this as, moving out."

"This, Rose Weasley is why I love you." Scorpius said, bending down and giving me a quick peck on the lips.

"So long," Scorpius said, pretending to wave at the castle.

"Farewell." I said, slipping my arm around Scorpius' waist as we walked down to the carriages for the very last time.


	24. Mine

_Five years on_ …

"Am I going to get to see you before dinner time?" Scorpius asked as I rushed around our apartment, trying to get ready for work.

"Maybe," I said with my mouth full, "It's pretty hectic. We had a load of Muggles witness a fight between Riley Boardman and Leanne Smith. Right in the middle of the street! Cursing each other like there was no tomorrow."

"Some people are idiots." Scorpius said, shaking his head. "I swear that Muggles will know all about the magical world by the time we're thirty."

"Tell me about it." I said, grabbing the keys to the front door and tossing them into my bag.

"So I won't prepare an amazing meal to give to my lovely girlfriend?" Scorpius said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I don't know. I'll keep you posted." I said, grabbing a stack of paperwork and turning towards the fireplace.

"Hey, where's my goodbye kiss?" Scorpius asked indignantly. I rolled my eyes and turned around to find him right behind me, his arms already wrapping around my waist, drawing me in for a kiss.

I pecked him softly on the lips, which lead to him deepening the kiss. I relaxed into it for a second before breaking away.

"I've got to go." I said, "I'll be late."

Scorpius looked slightly disappointed.

"Hey, don't give me that face. I'll see you soon okay?"

"Yeah okay, I'll just mope around here all day." Scorpius said glumly.

I rolled my eyes, "Not my fault you're only working part time."

"Yeah, well, I missed the due date for one assignment and they cut my shifts. I've got to turn everything in on time for the next few weeks or I get cut altogether."

"Well then you'd better get started on that thing that's due tomorrow." I said, fumbling for the floo powder. "Honestly, If you don't want me to know when your assignments are due don't put them on the kitchen calendar."

Scorpius laughed as I finally managed to get a fistful of floo powder and toss it into the flames and they roared into life, licking the top of the fireplace.

"See you tonight." I said, stepping into the flames.

"Yeah, see you then." I heard Scorpius say as I stood in the flames.

"Ministry of Magic, Auror office." I said loudly and was sucked away from the apartment into a whirlwind of smoke and ash as I tumbled through what seemed like a never ending network of fireplaces.

As soon as I felt myself slowing down, I bent my knees (because sprawling on the hearth was unprofessional) and seemingly walked out of the fireplace.

"Morning Weasley." My uncle Harry grunted, not looking up from his paperwork.

"Hello Mr. Potter." I said as I passed his desk. At home, he was my uncle, but at work he was my boss and I didn't get any special treatment. Hell, even Albus didn't get special treatment and he's the boss's son!

"Rose." Uncle Harry whispered and I turned around quickly, Whenever he called me by my first name at work, I knew that he wanted to tell me something personal.

"Yeah." I said

"Your friend Rio called in this morning, she says that she wants you to meet her at that coffee shop down the road for lunch and she says don't tell Albus."

"Alright, thanks Uncle Harry." I whispered just as someone else walked out of the fireplace.

"Okay then, back to work Weasley." Uncle Harry said loudly, straightening up.

"Yes sir, of course sir." I said, walking off through the maze of desks until I found mine. Albus worked on the desk adjacent to mine, so we talked through most of the day, something that annoyed our fellow co-workers to no end.

"Hey Rosie!" Albus said happily as I sat down next to him. "You're late."

"No I'm not." I snapped, "You're just early."

"Whatever." Albus said, "How's Scorpius?"

"He's fine," I said shortly, taking the paperwork that I'd been working on out of its file and sorting through it again. "How's Ella."

Albus suddenly looked around for any eavesdroppers.

"I can trust you, right Rosie?"

"Of course you can. I just can't trust you." I said loudly.

"Shush! Keep your voice down." Albus said, leaning in closer. Out of instinct I leaned in closer too.

"What is it?" I hissed.

"I asked Ella to marry me last night."

My jaw just about hit the floor in shock.

"You didn't." I said in disbelief.

"I did." Albus smiled.

"Well?" I said, making frantic gestures with my hands, "What did she say?"

"She said yes." Albus smiled. I let out a long, supressed squeal accompanied with hand movements and all. Then, I hit him.

"Ow, Rose what was that for? I thought you'd be happy."

"I am happy! However you are marrying my best friend, which means that I'm required to hit you." I said. Albus laughed softly and I could see that he was hiding something else.

"Okay spill big boy, what else are you hiding?" I said, nudging him slightly with my foot underneath the table.

Albus grinned, "I'll let her tell you that for herself. I wasn't even supposed to tell you about the engagement, but I couldn't resist, oh and you _have_ to act surprised when she tells you alright."

"What? No Albus you can't do that to me. That's like saying, 'oh yeah, let me tell you a secret, oh wait no I can't.' you have to tell me now." I said, my attention leaving my work as my hand slammed down on Albus' desk.

"No can do Rosie, sorry." Albus said, still grinning. "Although, I think you're meeting her for lunch along with Rio, Jade and Mae."

"What? How the hell did you find that out?" I said, remembering what Uncle Harry had said before about Rio saying to not tell Albus about the meeting.

"Ella told me," Albus shrugged, flipping over a page and writing in a few details. "You're just going to have to wait until then."

"I hate you Albus Potter." I said angrily, hitting him on the shoulder so that the word that he was writing ever so neatly went haywire.

"Oi!" Albus yelled, reaching for his wand.

"Potter! Weasley! Pipe down will you?" Uncle Harry called from the front. We were silent immediately.

* * *

The day seemed to drag on and on and on. I would check the clock one minute and then look back at it after what seemed like half an hour only to see that it had been half a minute. It was driving me crazy not knowing what Albus and Ella's second secret was. My guess was that it was something to do with the wedding. Were they having it in the Caribbean or something? Ella was going to wear jeans and a t-shirt? (Well that would've made my year)

The clock couldn't have ticked more slowly from eleven fifty nine to twelve o'clock. It felt like eternity that I sat there waiting for it to tick over and the horn to go for lunch.

I had given up on filing long ago. I was too distracted, and more and more kept piling in from the incident with the muggles. I would finish it after lunch, once I knew what Ella's second secret was.

The horn blared and I was out of my seat like a rocket, pushing for the doors. Everyone stood back in amazement as I hurried past. Normally I stayed back and finished the task that I had been assigned during my lunch break.

I raced into the lift, pressing the button to go down before anyone else could get in. I was going to have a few more enemies in the office now but I didn't care. All I cared about was getting that secret out of Ella.

The lift reached the ground floor and I tore off, looking around for a phone box to take me up to the surface. I saw one descend and raced over to it, waited impatiently for the two people inside to get out, jumped in and within seconds I was travelling back up to ground level.

Once there, I tore out of the phone box and up the street to the coffee shop on the corner, hoping that I wouldn't be the first to get there.

It appeared, however, that I wasn't the only one who had rushed here from work. Both Jade and Mae were sitting at the table in the far left hand corner of the room, chatting excitedly to each other. Jade caught sight of me and waved me over.

"Hey." I said as she and Mae stood up to greet me. "It's been forever hasn't it? How have you been?" I said, hugging both of them in turn.

"We're good; we managed to get an apartment together by telling the landlord that we were schoolmates bunking in together until we had enough money to get houses of our own. We tried like six others beforehand but when they found out that we were renting as a couple they turned us down, stupid bastards." Jade muttered.

"What about you?" Mae asked, "How's your life going? How's Scorpius?"

"He's failing in everything. His shifts at St. Mungo's got cut to half because he didn't put in an assignment, which is his fancy way of saying that he wasn't pulling his weight and he got sent back to re-train with all the seventeen and eighteen year olds and he has to put in everything in on time for the next month and he gets reinstated. But we are still fabulously happy together, before you ask." I smiled as the door opened and Rio walked in, waving happily at us

"Ree!" We exclaimed, jumping up and giving her a hug, "So spill, why did you call this meeting?"

"Oh so I don't even get an 'I've missed you' or 'how are you?'" Rio said pretending to act offended as she sat down.

"Sorry, how are you Rio?" I asked, eager to get it over with so that she could tell us why she had called this little meeting in the first place.

"I'm good." Rio said with a smile. "I'm still living with Bradley."

"Seriously? I go to all that trouble of asking you the question and I get 'I'm good and I'm still living with Bradley' your choice in guys is horrendous by the way." I said.

"He's not his sister Rose. He's really nice and kind and he takes really good care of Matilda, that's Carla and Kieran's baby." Rio said.

"She kept it?" Jade said, raising an eyebrow.

"Most importantly, why did Kieran stick with her?" I asked.

"Stop it Rose, just because Carla decided to mess up your relationship doesn't mean that you can still hate her."

"Yes it does." I said stubbornly. "What happened to you and Oliver, you were great together."

"We fell out of love. People actually do that you know, and you guys were lucky to find the one's that you truly love so young. I had to go searching for mine." Rio said.

I patted Rio on the head just as Ella walked through the door smiling widely at us.

True to my word to Albus, I didn't get up and start congratulating her on getting engaged, because that would've taken away her thunder when she actually told us. So as far as she was concerned, I didn't know anything. And I was planning to keep it that way until she told us.

"So, now that we're all here, can we please know why this meeting has been called Rio?" Jade said eagerly.

"I should've known you guys would think that something was up." Rio said, shaking her head with a small smile on her face.

"Well go on then, spit it out!" Jade said.

"After you, of course, Rio, I'd like to say something as well." Ella said as Rio opened her mouth to reply.

"Oh what's your announcement?" Jade asked eagerly, her attention jumping to Ella.

"You'll find out after Rio says her bit." Ella said, pushing Jade's head around to look at Rio again.

"Thanks." Rio said to Ella before turning to all of us. "Well, as you know, Bradley and I have been dating for three years now and a few weeks ago he asked me to marry him." Rio said, trying not to squeal.

"No way!" We all said in various forms of disbelief.

"You are marrying Bradley Mace! Rio, you're going to be Carla's sister in law!" I hissed.

"I don't care Rose, I love Bradley and Bradley loves me. We're getting married." Rio said.

"You're not serious…" Ella said, "I'm getting married too, that was my announcement. Albus asked me last night."

"Oh my gosh! Ella that's amazing. Please don't tell me you're getting married on the same day because I can't split myself into two." Jade said.

"That's why I wanted to tell you all now." Rio said, "Bradley and I are getting married on the tenth of June next year, so don't you dare have anything on that day."

There was a scrabble for parchment and quills as we all wrote down the date as a reminder.

"There's also one more thing that I wanted to say." Ella said timidly and I knew that this was the second big secret.

"Yeah." I said a little too eagerly.

"Um… Oh god this is going to be difficult." Ella said, biting her lip.

"Wait, you're not pregnant are you?" Jade said.

"Yes, actually, I am." Ella said, looking down at her lap.

"No." I said in disbelief, my hand shooting out to grab her arm. Ella looked up at me and nodded shyly again.

It was as if some sort of incredibly good looking celebrity had just walked into the shop, the shouts and squeals of excitement were that loud. It must've looked weird; five twenty three year olds jumping up and down in their seats like hyperactive three year olds. We gained a few weird looks from other customers before we calmed down enough to order lunch.

"How far along are you?" Jade asked as the waitress walked away with our orders.

"Eight weeks." Ella replied.

"Wait, Albus didn't propose to you because of the baby did he?" I asked.

"No, no. I was sitting on the couch, trying to decide how best to tell him when he walked over and proposed to me. I said yes of course and then I told him about the baby." Ella said. "We're going to tell the family at the next get together at the burrow."

"I'm so happy for you." I said, shaking my head with a smile on my face, "both of you." I added, placing my hand on Rio's as well, so as not to exclude her. Ella had kind of stolen her thunder with the announcement about the baby.

That was when it hit me. It was happening again, all of my friends were moving onto the next stage of life; getting married and in Ella's case having children whereas I hadn't even considered the possibility of getting married, although I would love to. I don't think that Scorpius is going to figure that out anytime soon.

* * *

With the amount of work that I had been given that day, I got home relatively early, if you can call eight pm early.

"You're home early." Scorpius called from the dining as I stepped into the living room via the fireplace.

"Yeah, I finished everything pretty quickly." I said, tossing my bag onto the lounge and walking into the dining room to find a beautifully elaborate candlelit dinner waiting for me along with Scorpius in a tuxedo.

"Oooh I must've done something good today." I said excitedly as Scorpius walked behind me and took off my jacket. "When was the last time you cooked me a candlelit dinner, Scorpius?"

"I've never done this before…" Scorpius said uncertainly.

"I know." I said, as Scorpius pulled out the chair for me and I sat down. "It was a joke Scorpius, you can laugh."

Scorpius laughed nervously. Honestly what had gotten into him lately? The last time I'd seen him in a tuxedo was five years ago at the end of year dance at Hogwarts and there was no way in the world that Scorpius had ever laughed nervously.

"This is beautiful Scorpius, really. Thank you." I said.

"It was no trouble." Scorpius shrugged.

"You didn't have to do this honestly." I said, reaching over the table and taking his hand.

"I did actually." Scorpius said as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. It was the middle of winter, how could he be sweating?

"No you didn't, you could've just sat around making paper planes all day but you chose to do this for me… thank you."

"I'm just repaying you for all the wonderful things that you've done for me." Scorpius said, "You're a wonderful person Rose, and I love you. So much so that I want to prove how much I love you."

"You're going to make me cry." I said, smiling, "You don't need to prove anything."

"Yes I do. You've done so many amazing things for me Rose and I've taken advantage of them and that's why…" he stood up from his seat and reached into his pocket.

"I want you to marry me." He flipped open the purple velvet box to reveal a golden ring that was twisted into an infinity sign. I clapped both hands to my mouth in shock and adoration.

"Rose Weasley, will you marry me?"

"Yes." I squeaked, "Yes, yes, bloody hell yes!" I said, flinging myself into his arms. He hugged me back for a split second before I broke away, eager to have the ring on my finger. Scorpius took it out of the box and slipped it on. It was a perfect fit.

"I chose the design of it because it symbolised how I felt about our love… eternal." Scorpius said. I felt a tear run down my cheek.

"I love you so, so much." I said, kissing him softly.

"I just hope that the love that I give you can amount to the love that you give me." Scorpius said, kissing me back.

"It does." I reassured him, "It amounts to it and more. I will always love you Scorpius Malfoy, no matter what."

"And I you, I'll tell you what, Rose. You are the best thing that's ever been mine. You've changed my life for the better and because I knew you I have been changed for good."

I could only smile.


	25. In My Life

_Fifteen years later_.

_**2045** _

"Antares will you get down, I've told you a million times!" I yelled from the balcony at my thirteen year old son who, despite my telling him not to still liked to spend lengthy amounts of time on the roof of our house.

"I'll be down in a minute mum." He yelled back.

"You are trying my patience young man." I said, "Ten minutes and you'd better be off that roof and finishing your homework and packing for tomorrow."

"Sure thing mum," Antares said, "Oh and tell Ly that I left her books on my bedside table."

Rolling my eyes, I turned and walked back inside, shaking my head at Antares antics. He was the eldest by two years and reminded me more of Scorpius every day.

"Mum, mummy, Antares _still_ hasn't given me back my books." My eleven year old daughter Lyra said, running into the kitchen and stamping her foot angrily.

"Oh, he said that he'd left them on his bedside table." I told her as I turned back to the dinner.

Lyra let out an exasperated sigh, "It only took him six bloody months." And she stormed up the hallway to Antares' room.

"Watch your language Lyra." I called half-heartedly after her. I had never been able to tell off my kids properly, well, I'd found it harder during the last four years, ever since Scorpius had died. It hadn't been anything to do with his headaches that he had suffered during our time at Hogwarts, although I sometimes wished that it was, then I would've been able to say goodbye. He had gone into work one day, and this was what was absolutely stupid about it because you wouldn't think that being a healer would've been a dangerous job, and he had been called to a bombing site in Diagon Alley in which a muggle had somehow gotten in and blown up half the alley, himself, his two comrades and seriously injured at least fifty witches and wizards who had been in the alley at the time. We'd been told from Rio, who had also been at the scene treating the wounded, that Scorpius had been tending to one of the dead muggles because everything else was under control when a second bomb had gone off, exploding in Scorpius' face and tearing him to bits. We didn't even have a full body to bury.

Rio had been the one to break the news to me. I will never forget the night that she had shown up at our door, tears streaming down her face and covered in rubble and dust.

* * *

_**2041** _

" _Antares won't give me my doll back mummy!" Lyra yelled from the living room._

" _Antares, give her the doll." I called in a resigned tone as I changed my youngest daughter, Martha's nappy._

" _But mum! She's got my comics!" Antares protested. Rolling my eyes I turned to face the two fighting children._

" _Okay, Lyra, you give Antares his comics and Antares you give Lyra her doll." I said. Both kids looked up at me with awe in their faces as if to say 'why didn't we think of that before?'_

_There was a knock on the door just as Antares and Lyra swapped their possessions._

" _Antares, watch your sisters." I said, putting three year old Martha down on the ground next to him. "I'll be two ticks."_

" _I don't need watching!" Lyra protested immediately as I walked out of the room and down the hall towards the front door. The latest that Scorpius was ever home was eight thirty and he almost always forgot his keys._

_I opened the door not to find Scorpius, but Rio._

" _Hey Scor- Rio, what are you doing here?" I asked, confused, taking in her dishevelled appearance. "Oh my gosh, Bradley didn't kick you out did he?"_

_Rio shook her head, a tear slipping through the grime on her face._

" _You'd better come in." I said, "I'll just put Martha to bed and tell Lyra and Antares to go and have a tooth brushing competition, they'll be there for hours." I said, leading Rio into the kitchen. She nodded again and suppressed a sob._

_While I was eager to find out what was wrong, I didn't want any of my three kids to walk into the kitchen and see Rio in the state that she was in._

_I walked into the living room and was immediately peppered with questions._

" _Who was that at the door mummy?"_

" _Was that daddy?"_

" _Why hasn't he come to see us yet?"_

" _It was nobody." I said, picking Martha up off the ground, "I want you two to go and see who can brush their teeth for the longest with two toothpaste refills."_

" _I am so going to beat you again Antares!" Lyra said, immediately racing out of the room._

" _No way, I always beat you." Antares said, running after her._

" _Come on Martha, let's put you to bed." I said, walking out of the living room and down the hall to the room that she and Lyra shared._

" _Not tired." Martha protested with a yawn. "And I want to see daddy."_

" _Daddy will come in and say goodnight when he gets home." I promised._

" _Okay." Martha relented as I laid her down in her bed and pulled the covers over her. Within seconds she was asleep, despite her earlier statement._

_I crept silently out of the room, listened to make sure that Antares and Lyra were brushing their teeth furiously and went back to the kitchen._

" _So," I said, flicking my wand at the kettle so that the water inside it started to boil, "what's wrong? Why are you crying, why are you dirty, why are you bleeding?" I asked in quick succession._

" _This isn't my blood." Rio said, gesturing to the red stains all over her hands._

" _Who's is it then? Please tell me that you didn't just come from surgery?" I said, knowing full well that she hadn't because they wore gloves when they did surgery._

" _No." Rio shook her head, before letting out another sob._

" _Ree, what's wrong…" I said, moving from the kitchen bench over to the stool that she was sat on._

" _It's Scorpius' blood." Rio said so quietly that I had to bend in to hear her._

" _What?" I said, freezing in my place._

" _Oh god… Rose, it's Scorpius' blood." Rio said before breaking down._

" _Please tell me you're joking." I said, stepping back from her. Rio shook her head. "No, Rio I know you like to play tricks on me but this is sick. It's a sick joke. You're sick!"_

" _It's not a joke." Rio sobbed, "Some muggle suicide bombers broke into Diagon Alley… the first one blew up and took half the Alley with it and Scorpius was treating the second person when the bomb inside him blew up. He's been blown to bits." She let out another loud sob._

" _Tell me you're fucking having me on." I said, clapping a hand to my mouth as tears welled in my eyes. Rio shook her head once and I knew that she wasn't joking. There was just something in her eyes, something that showed that she had seen things that shouldn't be seen by anyone._

_I felt numb as I started to choke on my tears as images of Scorpius flashed through my mind. His blood spattered everywhere, all over Rio's hands, all over Diagon Alley, a toe here, a finger there. I found myself being sick in the sink._

_I felt Rio's hand on my back as I straightened up again. One look into her eyes made me lose my composure completely and I let out a cry of anguish that was loud enough to wake the dead._

_I didn't know how long I cried into Rio's shoulder but I knew that the kids probably knew that something was wrong by now. I broke away from Rio, my eyes puffy and red._

" _Th-the kids, h-how will I t-tell them that h-he's d-dead?" I said, collapsing into sobs again._

" _You've just got to tell them." Rio said, "Look, I'm going to floo and tell Bradley that I'm staying here tonight, you're in no state to look after yourself. Is that okay?"_

_I nodded wordlessly as sobs still racked my body. He was gone; I couldn't believe that he was gone. He had left me alone in this world with three kids to look after and I had no idea how I was going to cope without him._

_Before I knew what was happening, Bradley had walked through the door, a worried expression on his face as he put down bags and bags of shopping on the counter._

" _I got as much as I could afford with the muggle stuff in the jar." He said._

" _Thanks Brad, now go home and look after Jarrah and Matthew before they decide to set something on fire." Rio said, kissing him softly and ushering him back out of the door where he disapparated._

" _Okay, Rosie, the kids will have heard you crying and are probably petrified, so we need to tell them. Do you want me to do it?" Rio offered. I shook my head and swallowed hard._

" _If anyone is going to tell them, it's going to be me." I said, wiping away my tears. "I don't know how, but I'm going to have to."_

" _Alright, go on." Rio said, "I'll make some tea."_

" _Can you come with me?" I whispered. Rio looked at me and I knew that she could see how nervous, scared and upset that I was. She gathered me in her arms and whispered in my ear._

" _Of course." She said, taking my hand and leading me out of the kitchen and down the hall to Lyra and Martha's room. I opened the door to find Martha curled up in Lyra's arms, sobbing with Antares sitting on the end of her bed with his legs tucked up to his chest, sobbing silently. Lyra's eyes were puffy too and somehow I knew that they had been eavesdropping when Rio had broken the news to me._

" _Mum." Lyra whimpered, her eyes looking at me as if to say 'is it true?' I nodded once as I walked over to the bed, biting my lip to stop the tears from falling._

_Lyra leant down into Martha's hair and started to sob quietly. I sat down on the bed in the middle of them and wrapped my arms around the three of them. Antares buried his head in my shoulder and sobbed for ages, while Martha lay with her head in my lap, tears silently leaking out of her eyes, she was too young to even know what dying meant, but because her brother, sister and mother were sad, she was sad too. Lyra hugged her knees to her chest and leant her head on my other shoulder, she had finished crying long ago and was now just shaking with dry sobs while biting various parts of her arm._

_Long after Martha and Antares had cried themselves to sleep, Lyra lay awake, still sobbing._

" _Ly," I said softly, "Come into the kitchen and I'll make you a hot chocolate okay?" Lyra sniffed slightly and nodded. I eased Antares' head off my shoulder and gently picked Martha up and put her in her bed. I took Lyra's hand and lead her out of the room while I tried to suppress my tears._

" _Hey." Rio said softly as Lyra and I walked into the kitchen._

" _Hi Auntie Rio." Lyra said glumly._

" _Rio can you take Lyra into the living room. I'll make drinks." I said, moving over to the kitchen bench and turning my back to them._

" _Sure." Rio said and after a few moments I heard them leave. I gripped the edge of the bench hard so that I wouldn't fall over. It was hard not to just fall down right there and then and cry myself to sleep just like Antares and Martha had before. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to think of happy things. The only thing was that all of my happy memories included Scorpius. Tears forced their way out of my closed eyes and down my cheeks at the thought of not being able to hold him again, not being able to kiss him, not being able to tell him that I loved him again. It was too late for any of that. The kiss and the 'I love you' from this morning would have to suffice. But if only we could've seen him before, if only he could've popped home for lunch so that we could've properly said goodbye._

" _You couldn't have predicted it." Rio said from behind me._

" _How did you know what I was thinking?" I sniffed, not turning around._

" _You forget, I lost my sister at seventeen, I know what this feels like Rosie."_

_I turned around, biting my lip. "How am I going to live without him?"_

_Rio moved forward, her arms outstretched, "I don't know," she soothed, "We'll work it out as we go."_

* * *

"Mummy, when's dinner going to be ready?" seven year old Martha asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Soon." I said, snapping out of the memory.

"Mummy, you're crying." Martha said her brow furrowing.

"Am I?" I said, wiping at my eyes to find that I had been crying. "I'll tell you what, tell Lyra to use the public telephone and phone for Pizza, you know how much she likes doing that. Here." I said, pulling twenty pence out of my pocket and handing it to her.

"Okay." Martha said enthusiastically, taking the coins and running off, calling for her sister. As soon as she was out of sight I hurried out onto the balcony and hoisted myself up onto the roof via the drain pipe. I had finally figured out why Antares had been spending so much time up there lately.

"Hey Taro." I said, seeing him lying on the corrugated iron.

"Hey mum." He said, pointing at the sky, "Look mum, Scorpius." He pointed at the constellation.

"And there's Antares," I said, sitting down next to him, pointing at the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation. "I'm sorry that I've been telling you to get off the roof. I really only truly realised what you were doing about five minutes ago."

"That's okay." Antares said, looking back at the constellation that his father was named after. After a while he asked "do you miss him."

I looked up at the constellation, "Every day."

"Same." Antares said. I knew Antares had taken Scorpius' death harder than either of his siblings because he'd been closer to Scorpius than any of us had been. He had locked himself in his room for months afterwards, refusing to talk to anyone and not eating anything. It was only when Lyra burst into his room and told him that he was being silly did he come out, but even after that it took him weeks to talk to anyone or even smile again.

"Kids at school are always talking about what they did with their dads in the holidays and it makes me want to cry every time." Antares said, trying to make conversation. "But then I go to bed and dad tells me not to let it worry me in my dreams."

I looked at him with a confused expression on my face, "Sorry?"

"He talks to Lyra and Martha too. He tells us that it's okay and that we should look after you and each other for him."

I felt a lump rising in my throat upon hearing these words. I had no idea that Scorpius inhabited my children's dreams as much as he inhabited mine. Mostly it was just to tell him that he loved me and the kids. I just wish that I could hold him in my arms again and not just see him as an object of grief in my dreams.

Having lost their father at such an early age had been very tough on all three of them. Antares liked to isolate himself, so much so that he had trouble talking to people that he met for the first time. Lyra became angry and snapped at anyone who talked to her, she too wasn't very social and often lashed out at other kids, although I'd found her scribbling away at a diary one night and when I'd read it when she was out the next day it was all about how much she missed Scorpius. Martha didn't seem to want to learn anything. She hated magic with a passion and every time she showed signs of it she would try and get it out of her by locking herself away for days on end until Lyra or I pried her out with the promise of a fizzing whisbee.

"Mum! The pizza's here." I heard Lyra call.

"Come on, let's go eat." I said. Antares sat up reluctantly. I put a hand on his shoulder. "You can come back up here later, I promise."

"Thanks mum." He whispered, "I just like the idea that he's sitting in that constellation looking down at me."

"I like that idea too." I smiled.

* * *

"Antares, try and make some new friends." I said half-heartedly as I kissed him goodbye the next day at Kings Cross station.

"I'm happy hanging out with Bray." Antares said, "Can we please go find Auntie Ella?" He said.

"No need, Taro." Ella said, creeping up behind us with Albus, Benjamin, Brayden and Blaine. "We're here."

"Hey Taro!" Brayden said, tackling Antares in a headlock.

"Nice to see you too Bray." Antares said, struggling out of the headlock and fist bumping his friend.

"Hi Ben," I said, receiving a wave in return as he rushed off to join his friends on the other side of the station. I looked around to see Blaine and Martha talking, which just left Lyra waiting for her best friends Matthew and Natasha.

"How are you?" Ella said, the tone in her voice conveying more than just asking me how I was that day.

"I'm fine. You know, I still miss him but I know I'll never lose affection." I said, nodding at her, surprised that no tears came to clog my eyes and affect my voice.

"I still worry about you all alone in that big house. You're a really good mother, not many people would be able to take care of three kids by themselves after suffering the death of a family member." Albus said.

"And Albus, how have you been my dear cousin?" I said, shifting the attention off myself and Scorpius.

"I'm good, thanks Rosie." He said, giving me a hug.

"The boys aren't driving you up the wall yet?" I asked.

"Not yet." Ella said laughing. "They're at that awkward I-don't-want-to-talk-to-anyone stage and Blaine is still a child so he's fine."

"Yeah," I said, looking over at him and Martha fondly as they chatted away. "Oh look, here comes Rio, Bradley, Matthew and Jarrah."

Rio and her family bounded up to us energetically. Fifteen year old Jarrah said a quick hello and demanded to know where Ben had gone and disappeared off to find him. Matthew, her eleven year old brother said a few polite hello's and rushed to Lyra's side.

"Oh god, finally," Lyra said, "I was beginning to think you'd never get here."

"Are you excited?" Matthew asked.

"Of course!" Lyra said, offended that he even needed to ask.

"All we have to do is wait for Natasha and we can get on the train and be on our way." Matthew said.

I turned my attention back to the conversation at hand.

"… and then she told us to 'fuck off and go get our heads out of the holes that they were so evidently buried in'" Bradleys said.

"Wow, what a weird thing to tune into the conversation with…" I said, "Why did Jarrah say this exactly?" I asked, assuming that he was talking about his daughter.

"We told her that she was too young to have a boyfriend." Bradley replied.

"Quite right too, we didn't get into romantic relationships until we were seventeen." Ella said.

"You should let her have some freedom." I said, "You only get to live once, you should make the most out of it."

Nobody said a word as they knew that we had touched on a topic that wasn't spoken about during casual conversation in our group. Thankfully, the pause was broken by the arrival of Jade, Mae and their daughter Natasha.

Literally, within three minutes of their arrival, Lyra, Matthew and Natasha were already kissing us goodbye and running towards the train, eager to go to Hogwarts.

"How is everyone?" Jade and Mae said, hugging everyone in turn.

We all replied with a chorus of "Good" as Jade and Mae proceeded to tell us about the goings on in their lives. Natasha and their newborn daughter Laura had both been conceived with the sperm of none other than my brother and Jade and Mae had been kind enough to return the favour and surrogate for Hugo and his partner Daniel. So technically, Natasha and Laura were my nieces and Hugo's kids, Jamie and Phillip weren't my nephews… it was complicated.

"One minute to go." Ella said, taking Blaine's hand, "We'd better go and wave them off."

I grabbed Martha's hand and lead her through the crowd towards the giant steam engine that had just started to billow steam. I caught sight of Antares and Lyra waving out of the window of a compartment about half way down the train. I could see Matthew, Brayden and Natasha also inside, clamouring for a wave goodbye as the porters started shutting the doors all along the train.

I started thinking of Scorpius again; how he hadn't been alive to see Antares go off to Hogwarts, how he wasn't here to see Lyra go and he most definitely wouldn't be here in four years' time when it was Martha's turn.

I felt tears stinging in my eyes and fought to hold them back; I couldn't cry, not now. The train started to move away from the station and Lyra waved frantically at me. I could see the excitement building in her.

As the train rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, I couldn't help thinking that while love can punch you, kick you and make you feel like you're worth nothing, in the end all you can do is wait for the light of the next day, because it always comes.


End file.
